The 3-point shooting, led primarily by the duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, has grown in frequency over the past decade in the NBA.
Just looking at the average number of 3-point attempts, you get a very clear image. At the beginning of the 2023-22 season, NBA Year 75, the average of 3-point shots attempted is 35.5, just double the 18.4 average for the 2011-12 season.
The same can be seen in the number of single-game triples records that were broken in recent years, both in the regular season and in the playoffs.
Single-game regular season record
For more than a decade, Donyell Marshall and Kobe Bryant jointly held the record for the most triples in a single regular-season game. In 2016, during his unanimous MVP season, Stephen Curry tied that tally.
In the five years since then, three players have knocked down more than 12 triples in a single game. First, Curry broke his own record that same year before his teammate Klay Thompson set the NBA record with 14 at the start of the 2018-19 season.
A year later, Zach LaVine put his name alongside these greats when he dropped 13.
| Player (team) | Triples | Date | Adversary |
| Klay Thompson (Warriors) | 14 | October 29, 2018 | Bulls |
| Zach LaVine (Bulls) | 13 | November 13, 2019 | Hornets |
| Stephen Curry (Warriors) | 13 | November 7, 2016 | Pelicans |
| Stephen Curry (Warriors) | 12 | February 27, 2016 | Thunder |
| Donyell Marshall (Raptors) | 12 | March 13, 2005 | 76ers |
| Kobe Bryant (Lakers) | 12 | January 7, 2003 | Seattle SuperSonics |
Of the 26 times an NBA player has scored 11 triples, all but four occurred in 2015 or later. Curry, the best shooter this game has ever seen, represents 12 of them. No other player in league history has done it more than twice.
Single-game playoff record
The impact of the triple in the postseason has been the same, although slightly delayed. All cases in which a player knocks down more than nine triples have occurred after 2016.
Klay Thompson first broke the record for nine 3s in a single playoff game, held by multiple players (Jason Terry, Ray Allen, Rex Chapman, Vince Carter), when he dropped 11 3s during his epic Game 6 performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder. in 2016.
Last postseason in 2023, Damian Lillard broke that record when he dropped 12 en route to scoring 55 against the Denver Nuggets.
Before Lillard’s eruption, Thompson held the record for the most triples in a single game in both the regular season and the playoffs.
| Player (team) | Triples | Date | Adversary |
| Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers) | 12 | June 1, 2023 | Nuggets |
| Klay Thompson (Warriors) | eleven | May. 28, 2016 | Thunder |
| Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers) | 10 | Apr 23, 2019 | Thunder |
Of the 14 times an NBA player scored nine 3-pointers in a postseason, all but five came after 2018.
