Before the advent of the three-point field goal, playing “winning” basketball was a rather simple proposition – a team needed to convert more of its scoring opportunities than the other guys, and then make sure they didn’t squander that advantage with shoddy free-throw shooting.
But nowadays – with the impact of that added “stripe” to the court – a team may well out-convert the opposition yet wind up losing on the scoreboard.
Take Boston’s Nov. 1 TD Garden Party with the Milwaukee Bucks as an example. On the strength of a 30 – 13 edge in free-throw attempts, the visitors were successful on 53 of their 100 possessions while the C’s registered but 47 conversions.