Mavericks' Klay Thompson passes NBA legend on three-pointer list

Klay Thompson made four three-pointers in the Dallas Mavericks' 105-99 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas Day, which moved him past Hall of Famer Miller for fifth place on the all-time list of made three-pointers. 

Even after losing two-and-a-half seasons to a torn Achilles tendon and a torn ACL from 2019-22, Thompson had made more three-pointers than all but four players in NBA history: Damian Lillard, Ray Allen, James Harden and his former teammate Stephen Curry.

Even after two devastating injuries, Thompson led the NBA in total three-pointers during the 2022-23 season with 301, the seventh-best single-season mark in history. He also had the 17th-best single-season performance in 2015-16, and tied the 25th-best performance with his 268 threes last season, tying a mark set by ... Klay Thompson, in 2016-17.

After leaving the Golden State Warriors for the Mavericks this summer, Thompson is shooting as well as ever, averaging 3.1 threes per game on 39.1% shooting. He may see his opportunities go up with teammate Luka Doncic sidelined indefinitely with a calf strain, but Thompson is ready. 

In the fourth quarter Wednesday, Thompson made two big threes as Dallas nearly came back from 28 points down.

Thompson may have looked like he was slipping last season, but it appears that the ability to knock down three-pointers is a skill that doesn't easily go away. 

If the Mavericks make another deep playoff run this season, they may rely on Thompson knocking down threes. After all, he's No. 5 on the regular season list, but he's hit the second-most playoff three-pointers in history.