As the Celtics near NBA record for 3s in a season, a look inside the numbers from beyond the arc

The Boston Celtics almost certainly will connect on a history-making 3-pointer sometime this week. It's likely to happen Wednesday against the Miami Heat. If not, then it'll be Friday against the Phoenix Suns.

It's coming. It's inevitable.

This year's Celtics — the defending NBA champions — will go into the playoffs having set league records for 3-pointers made and 3-pointers attempted in a season.

Everybody knows the Celtics shoot a ton of 3-pointers; they have taken at least 50 3s in a game 36 times this season — and they're a whopping 29-7 in those games after trying 62 of them in a win over Memphis on Monday night.

“It’s just a matter of taking what the defense gives you,” coach Joe Mazzulla said.

The Celtics are the first team in NBA history to take 60 3s in a game five times in the same season. They're up to 1,344 made 3s this season, now just 19 away from matching the record Golden State set two seasons ago — so that's within realistic reach against the Heat on Wednesday. They've tried 3,636 3s this season, 85 away from the record Houston set in 2018-19.

This has been a talking point in the league for years. How many 3s are too many 3s?

The Celtics don’t care. Evidently, neither do about half of the other teams in the NBA.

Boston is one of 15 clubs poised this season to break franchise records in 3-pointers made, 3-pointers attempted or both. Some teams — Chicago, Cleveland, Portland and San Antonio — already have set one or both of those club records with two weeks left in the season.

Let's take a look inside the numbers:

Now past 30,000 made 3s for the fourth consecutive season — James Harden made the 30,000th on Sunday — the NBA is on pace to smash the current total records for 3-pointers made and attempted in a season.

The league record of 31,579 made 3s was set last season and the record of 86,535 attempted was set in the 2021-22 season. At the current pace, 33,000 made 3s is within reach and 92,000 of them getting attempted isn't impossible either.

It'll be the 17th time in the last 22 seasons that the NBA has seen more 3s than ever before.

Teams are trying 6.8% more 3-pointers, on average, than they did last season. This would be the biggest year-over-year jump in the last six seasons.

Translation: The 3-point craze is not ending anytime soon.

If you've paid any attention this season, you know this isn't just the Celtics going wild from deep. Almost every team is shooting 3s at a dizzying rate — with Chicago simply obliterating its team record.

The Bulls had never made more than 941 3s in a season; they're already at 1,171 this season. They're on pace for massive increases over last season — up 36% in 3s made, up 32% in 3s attempted.

Also currently on pace to break club records for 3s made, attempted or both in a season: Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, the Los Angeles Lakers, Memphis, Miami, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio and Washington.

It's not for everyone. Houston is on pace for the eighth-most 3s made and attempted in a season; to be fair, the Rockets of a few years ago were of the go-go-go, shoot-shoot-shoot mold, and this team is not. Dallas and Milwaukee are both on pace for only the seventh-most 3s attempted in any of their seasons.

The record number of players making 100 3-pointers in a season is 125, set last season. It is expected be topped; through Monday, 122 players had at least 100 made 3s this season.

There are 21 players who entered Tuesday's games with between 90 and 99 made 3s, so more will be hitting the 100 mark soon.

Let's put this into more perspective: A decade ago — 2014-15 — there were only 57 players to make 100 3-pointers.

That number has more than doubled since.

Making 10 3s doesn't guarantee winning — but not making at least 10 3s in a game puts teams in serious trouble.

Through Monday, teams that don't make at least 10 3-pointers lose 72% of the time this season. Teams that don't make at least 15 3-pointers lose 59% of the time.

Teams that make 15 or more 3s in a game win 65% of the time. Here's a weird quirk, though: Making 20 or more 3s in a game has led to victory 75% of the time this season — which is actually down from 83% last season, 82% in 2022-23 and 91% in 2021-22.

Not everyone is part of the 3-point craze.

There are four players — the Los Angeles Clippers’ Ivica Zubac, Detroit’s Jalen Duren, Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and Dallas’ Daniel Gafford — who have at least 500 points this season and have yet to try a 3-point shot.

Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen (0 for 4 on 3-pointers), Charlotte’s Mark Williams (0 for 1), New Orleans’ Yves Missi (0 for 1) and Phoenix’s Nick Richards (0 for 2) were close to being on that list.

Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein is over the 500-point threshold — but is 0 for 18 on 3s this season. Only three players have ever tried more 3s in a season without a make; Gene Banks was 0 for 19 in 1985-86, Magic Johnson was 0 for 21 in 1982-83 and Tom Garrick was 0 for 22 in 1990-91.

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) shoots a 3-pointer over Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Boston Celtics' Baylor Scheierman celebrates his 3-pointer during second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Boston Celtics' Baylor Scheierman reacts after making a 3-pointer during second half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) attempts a 3-point basket as Sacramento Kings forward DeMar DeRozan, center, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 24, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) shoots a three-pointer over Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Monday, March 24, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sara Nevis)

Boston Celtics players on the team bench celebrate a made 3-pointer by Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) shoots a 3-pointer over Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, March 26, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard reacts after making a 3-point basket against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Parts of the South and Midwest, still reeling from violent storms, tornadoes and flooding that have killed at least eight people this week, faced an ongoing threat of catastrophic flooding Friday that forecasters said would stretch into the weekend.

Severe thunderstorms threatened a swath of the country with a population of 2.3 million people from northeast Texas through Arkansas and into southeast Missouri.

In Kentucky, continued storms inundated roads and a mudslide blocked a busy highway on the outskirts of Louisville. A 9-year-old boy was killed, swept away as he walked to a school bus stop.

The downtown area of Hopkinsville, Kentucky — a city of 31,000 residents 72 miles (116 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, Tennessee — was submerged.

The first wave of storms killed at least five people in Tennessee and one each in Missouri and Indiana on Wednesday and Thursday.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called the devastation in his state “enormous” and said it was too early to know whether there were more deaths as searches continued.

There was massive destruction in Lake City in eastern Arkansas, where homes were flattened and cars were flipped and tossed into trees.

At least 318 tornado warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service since this week's tornado outbreak began early Wednesday, and that was likely to grow. It has already eclipsed the 300 tornado warnings issued during last month’s deadly outbreak in Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and other states.

Not all tornado warnings involve an actual tornado, and it was too early to know how many were actually produced by the current outbreak.

The severe weather hit at a time when nearly half the National Weather Service's forecast offices have 20% vacancy rates — twice that of a decade ago — according to data obtained by The Associated Press.

Forecasters attributed the violent weather to warm temperatures, an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming from the Gulf.

The prolonged deluge, which could dump more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain over a four-day period, “is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,” the National Weather Service said.

Private forecasting company AccuWeather said northeastern Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky and northwestern Tennessee needed to prepare for a catastrophic risk from flash flooding.

“This is a rare and dangerous atmospheric setup,” said Jonathan Porter, AccuWeather chief meteorologist.

Forecasters have also warned of major disruptions to shipping and supply chains. Shipping giant FedEx, for example, has a massive facility in the danger area, in Memphis Tennessee. Barge transportation on the lower Mississippi River could also be affected.

Water rescue teams and sandbags were being set up across the region in anticipation of flooding, and authorities warned people to take the threat of rising water seriously.

“We need everyone to understand that all water poses risk right now and to take every precaution," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.

Associated Press writers George Walker IV in Selmer, Tennessee; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, Seth Borenstein in Washington; and Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky, contributed.

Daniel Fraser takes a photograph in the warehouse of the damaged building of Specialty Distributors after a tornado passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

A shipping and receiving bay door is damaged along with the interior of the Gordon-Hardy building after severe weather passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

William Fraser takes photographs inside the warehouse of a damaged building of Specialty Distributors after severe weather passed through an industrial industrial park on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Jeffersontown, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry)

A home is in ruins after severe weather passed through Lake City, Ark., on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)