Domantas Sabonis has entered the Indiana Pacers record book after a historic season.
We all should have seen this as a possibility as soon as Domantas Sabonis scored 30 points against the Knicks without missing a shot in a Pacers win. The second that game ended, we all should have watched to see is Sabonis could break the Pacers record for shooting percentage in a single season.
And by god, he did it. Domantas Sabonis now hold the Pacers franchise record for shooting percentage in a season at 59% on the nose.
| Criteria | Totals | Shooting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Season | Age | Tm | Lg | MP | FG% | G | GS | FG | FGA | 2P | 2PA | 3P | 3PA | FT | FTA | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | 2P% | 3P% | eFG% | FT% | TS% |
| 1 | Domantas Sabonis | 2018-19 | 22 | IND | NBA | 1838 | .590 | 74 | 5 | 413 | 700 | 404 | 683 | 9 | 17 | 208 | 291 | 186 | 504 | 690 | 212 | 48 | 30 | 160 | 239 | 1043 | .592 | .529 | .596 | .715 | .630 |
| 2 | Ian Mahinmi | 2015-16 | 29 | IND | NBA | 1816 | .589 | 71 | 71 | 264 | 448 | 264 | 448 | 0 | 0 | 132 | 225 | 138 | 369 | 507 | 104 | 65 | 75 | 100 | 220 | 660 | .589 | .589 | .587 | .603 | |
| 3 | Dale Davis | 1992-93 | 23 | IND | NBA | 2264 | .568 | 82 | 82 | 304 | 535 | 304 | 535 | 0 | 0 | 119 | 225 | 291 | 432 | 723 | 69 | 63 | 148 | 79 | 274 | 727 | .568 | .568 | .529 | .573 | |
| 4 | Dale Davis | 1994-95 | 25 | IND | NBA | 2346 | .563 | 74 | 70 | 324 | 576 | 324 | 575 | 0 | 1 | 138 | 259 | 259 | 437 | 696 | 58 | 72 | 116 | 124 | 222 | 786 | .563 | .000 | .563 | .533 | .570 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/11/2019.
That “on the nose” addendum is important. Massively so, in fact. Sabonis hit 413 of his 700 shot attempts this season, which is exactly 59%, not a decimal more or less. Had he missed 1 more shot, he would have shot 58.85% from the field this season.
That is a very good number, but it isn’t good enough. The old Pacers franchise record for shooting percentage in a single season belonged to Ian Mahinmi, who in 2015-16 shot 264/448 from the field, which is good for 58.92%.
So, yeah, Sabonis’ shooting percentage being “on the nose” is incredibly important. Had he missed one single more shot, he would not have set the franchise record.
Sabonis also set the record for 2-point field goal percentage at 59.6%. This is unsurprising, as most of his shots as 2-point attempts, but it is a nice thing to note. In terms of efficiency, his 63% true shooting figure is the best by any Pacer not named Reggie Miller, which is some kind of company to be named with. Reggie had a more efficient season 3 times thanks to his 3-point shooting prowess.
No matter which way you slice it, Domantas Sabonis had one of the best Pacers season ever at putting the ball through the net. His season will long be remembered. Oh, and he’s still improving.