The Portland Trail Blazers have made headlines this season for some historically bad 3-point performances. Yet, when looking beyond just the 3-point shot, the Blazers aren’t one of the NBA’s worst shooting teams this season, according to The Athletic’s Law Murray (subscription required).

In his third-annual NBA team-wide shooting rankings, Murray compiled the list by taking the average of five categories for each team: midrange field goals made per game (non-paint 2s); midrange field goal percentage; 3s made per game; 3-point percentage; and free-throw percentage.

By that scoring system, the Blazers rank in the bottom half of the league, but not in the bottom five. They come in at No. 22 on the list. Murray noted the team is strong in the midrange, but lacks accuracy from deep (stats are as of Wednesday, Dec. 18).

Greatest strength: 13th in midrange percentage

Greatest weakness: 25th in 3-point percentage

Analysis: Center Deandre Ayton leads Portland with 2.2 midrange attempts per game, but shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe makes 48.6 percent of his 1.9 midrange attempts. Unfortunately, Sharpe makes only 27 percent from 3, and he is one of three guards (Anfernee Simons, Scoot Henderson) who attempts at least 3.0 3s per game but makes worse than 35 percent of them.

No. 22 isn’t a good ranking, but this writer was still somewhat surprised to see Portland that high on the list. The midrange shot is going out of favor in the modern NBA, but it appears to be Portland’s saving grace in Murray’s ranking system. Additionally, while the team’s 3-point percentage ranks in the bottom five among NBA teams, Portland’s 3-point makes and free-throw percentage both rank No. 21 and No. 20, respectively, as of Sunday.

The Blazers ranked one spot above the No. 23 Golden State Warriors (3-9 in their last 12) and one spot below the No. 21 New Orleans Pelicans. In last season’s rankings, the 2023-24 Blazers (21-61) ranked No. 14.