J.R. Smith

Not to get too out of control, but last night’s Nuggets/Knicks shootout between Carmelo Anthony and Danilo Gallinari had shades (just shades) of Dominique Wilkins versus Larry Bird. While ‘Melo was getting buckets inside, mid-range and outside on his way to 36 points — the “full-service buffet of offense” as described in Smack — Gallinari was knocking down long-range jumpers left, right and center; he jacked up 13 threes on his way to scoring 28 and getting the win.

In his breakout pro season, Gallo (14.4 ppg) has become one of the NBA’s most prolific outside shooters, ranking second in the League in three-pointers made with 162 going into tonight’s schedule. With each big game he has, his confidence grows and he becomes more of a threat to score from anywhere on the perimeter.

Talking about the concept of “range” in the Dime office, we defined it as, (1) obviously the ability to shoot from a long ways away, but also (2) including guys you have to check the second they cross half-court, because they have the confidence and the green light to pull from anywhere. Who cracks the Top 10 list of NBA players with the most range? My ranking…

1. Kevin Durant
2. Gilbert Arenas
3. J.R. Smith
4. Kobe Bryant
5. Ray Allen
6. Jamal Crawford
7. Steve Nash
8. Ben Gordon
9. Eddie House
10. Peja Stojakovic

Honorable mention: Aaron Brooks, Vince Carter, Stephen Curry, Danilo Gallinari, J.J. Redick, Rudy Fernandez