What are Karl-Anthony Towns’ three-point shooting stats?

The Minnesota Timberwolves made Karl-Anthony Towns the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Superdraft. A seven-footer, Towns has the potential to dominate games but his three-point shooting was a real issue during the first three games of Minnesota’s Conference Finals series.

After a 116-107 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3, Towns’ three-point shooting was at 27.8% for the series. ESPN reported that only three players in the shot clock era had recorded a worse field goal percentage in the opening three games of a finals series.

After a dismal Game 3 showing Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch admitted that Towns’ shooting was a problem: “He struggled, of course... It was hard to watch at times.”

However across the regular season his shooting record was good for a big man, recording a three-point conversion rate of 41.6%. That was the second-best figure of his nine-year professional career, behind only the 42.1% reached in 2017/18.

Towns’ three-point shooting can be difference maker for Timberwolves

After struggling in the opening three games of the Western Conference finals, Towns found form in the Game 4 victory on Tuesday night. He made four of his five attempts from outside the paint, putting up a total of 25 points for his team.

The Timberwolves’ set-up utilised off-ball screens to make space for Towns to hit those shots, a real show of faith from Finch. Towns’ accuracy was not only key in the Game 4 win but it could help to shift the balance in the series, which remains firmly in the Mavs’ control.

No team has ever overcome an 3-0 series deficit but Towns’ shooting from range could help to open up that stoic Dallas defence. The absence of Dereck Lively II for the Mavericks made life easier for the Towns and he could be denied that same space and time to execute if Lively returns for Game 5.

Speaking after Tuesday’s win, Finch revealed what he had said to Towns ahead of the Game: “Trust your talent. Stay confident, because we have every confidence in you. The shots will fall. Jalyen [Clark] went through a massive slump in the Denver series and then helped us finish it out by catching fire... That’s just how shooting is.”