Wrong.

The team relied too much on jumpers, ones which fell in the first half but not the second, and ended up with a bad, bad offensive night. The Kings shot 42 percent, had 16 turnovers in 96 possessions, earned only 15 free throw attempts, ending up with an offensive rating of 98.7.

Landry took seven of his 15 shots from the mid-range. Thompson took eight of his 14 shots from the mid-range. Beno took nine of his 13 two-point attempts from the mid-range. Those three players combined to take 24 of their 42 two-point attempts — some 57 percent of their shots — from the mid-range. They combined for 24 points on those shots. Twenty-four points on 24 shots.

At the rim, despite Thompson's paint struggles, the trio scored 20 points on 18 shots, and happened to combine for 11 FTAs, free throw attempts you don't get on mid-range jumpers. That ended up as nine more points on five more shooting possessions (Beno had one and-1). Lesson: screw the mid-range. It's no good for you.

The percentages don't lie, not over the entire league, over so many teams and players. Mid-range jumpers are nightshade to a team's offense. They should be last resorts, not more than half of the offense for three of your top five possession-users. The Kings acquired Landry to be a post presence, but he's constantly stationed 15-18 feet from the basket. Thompson is hardly smooth at the rim, but he's a brilliant offensive rebounder, he can receive a pass, and he's not nearly as good a perimeter shooter as everyone thinks. Beno — hell, Beno can shoot away. He's at almost 50 percent from mid-range on the season, one of the league's few efficient players from there. He's also at about 70 percent at the rim, which of course encourages the belief that cutting down those two-point jumpers a bit would be OK.

Tyreke obviously has unique gifts — his shot profile is part of what makes him such a special player, and it's unfair to expect his teammates to emulate it. At the same time, the proof of what works is right there. Learn from it.