Spurs' Green sets NBA Finals record for 3-pointers

Danny Green once wasn't good enough to be on the same team as LeBron James.

Now he's an NBA Finals record-holder, and a big reason why the MVP's chances of a second consecutive championship are in serious trouble.

Setting a Finals mark with 25 3-pointers, Green finished with 24 points and went 6 of 10 from long range in Game 5 against the Miami Heat, helping lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 114-104 victory Sunday night.

Deemed too raw and unpolished to remain on the roster with James and Cleveland three years ago, Green is the most prolific 3-point shooter on the NBA's biggest stage.

"It seems everything is going right for me. I feel truly blessed," Green said. "The basketball gods are in our favor right now."

Green is 25 for 38 from long range in the Finals - 66 percent - having hit at least four 3-pointers in every game against Miami except one.

Green set the mark playing against Heat guard Ray Allen, who set the record when he hit 22 3-pointers while helping Boston win its most recent title in 2008.

Yet even Allen - the NBA's all-time leader in 3-pointers - didn't shoot with this kind of precision in the Finals. Allen, who has 11 3s against the Spurs, shot 52 percent in that six-game win against the Los Angeles Lakers.

"It's an honor to be even playing on the same floor as some of these guys. Growing up, I watched him play all the time," Green said of Allen. "To think I broke a record of his is surreal."

Associated Press

(China Daily 06/18/2013 page22)