The Dallas Mavericks dropped Game 4 of their second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in extremely disappointing fashion on Monday night, but one player who wasn't to blame for the collapse was P.J. Washington.
The fifth-year forward out of Kentucky was sent to Dallas by the Charlotte Hornets at this season's NBA trade deadline. Following an up-and-down close to the regular season, Washington has led the Mavericks in scoring in back-to-back games here in the playoffs, surpassing even Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. He's scored 29, 27, and 21 points in each of the team's last three games, respectively, and is on the heater of his life from behind the three-point line.
After shooting a career-worst from 32% from three during the 2023-24 regular season, Washington has made 42% of his threes during the playoffs. Additionally, over his last five games spanning both the series against the Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers, Washington has made 23 of the last 45 three-pointers he's attempted.
He's been so hot that announcers have started calling him "Captain Corner" on the broadcasts. Everything he throws at the rim looks like it's going in.
But don't let that Captain Corner nickname deceive you. Washington's been hitting from everywhere on the court during this series. Through the first four games against OKC, Washington is shooting 8-for-16 on left corner threes (50%), 5-for-12 on right corner threes (41.7%), and 6-for-9 on above the break threes (66.7%). Add it all up, and he's shooting 51.4% from deep in this series while launching an impressive 7.4 three-point attempts per game.
Per Stathead, here is every single player in NBA history who has had a five-game stretch in the playoffs where they shot over 50% from three while attempting at least 40 triples over said five-game stretch:
- Ray Allen
- Desmond Bane
- Stephen Curry
- Donte DiVincenzo
- Damian Lillard
- Kevin Love
- Matt Maloney
- Donovan Mitchell
- Jamal Murray
- Michael Porter Jr.
- Terry Rozier
- J.R. Smith
- Klay Thompson
- Fred VanVleet
- Antoine Walker
- Derrick White
- P.J. Washington
That list of 17 players includes several of the most well-regarded shooters in NBA history, and four of the league's all-time leaders in career three-pointers made. It's incredibly hard to shoot this well on this high of volume for any stretch of time, let alone to due it in the thick of a playoff run.
What makes Washington stand out amongst the 17 players to have reached this mark over a five-game stretch is that he's been nothing more than a middling three-point shooter throughout his career. Most of the players listed above are either elite snipers, or at the very least, high-volume shooters who still clock in at above average percentages.
Washington's career average of 35.4% from three is the second-worst in the entire group, beating out only Antoine Walker, whose low accuracy ventures from behind the three-point line are infamous.
It's hard for Washington to play much better than how he's performed the past two weeks. The Mavericks traded Seth Curry, Grant Williams, and a future first-round pick for him because they needed a big, active body on the defensive end who was simultaneously capable or providing more of a threat on offense than Williams did.
Through 10 playoff games, Washington has provided exactly that, even if his job on offense doesn't extend beyond "stand behind the arc and shoot threes when one of Luka or Kyrie passes it to you."
With the historic heater he's on right now, Dallas doesn't need much more than that from him. They just need a little bit more from everyone else on the roster in order to survive this tight second-round series against the OKC Thunder.
