Bradley Beal on pace to join Dennis Scott with career shooting anomaly

Bradley Beal can shoot the rock. The Wizards’ two guard is scoring a career high 18.5 points a game — in limited minutes on doctor’s orders — hitting 39.5 percent from three and with a career best 56.3 percent true shooting percentage. He is shooting better than any point in his career.

Until you send him to the free throw line lately.

He’s shooting a career-low 73.9 percent from the charity stripe, and that is 66.5 percent in February.

That could lead to a real career shooting anomaly, pointed out by Ben Standig of CSNMidAtlantic.com:

According to data from BasketballReference.com, Beal and Dennis Scott are the only two players dating back to the 1946-47 season who over their careers shot under 80 percent from the free throw line and at least 39 percent of 3-pointers while attempting at least four from deep per game. If Beal doesn’t miss six of eight 3’s in Saturday’s loss at Miami, the 3-point % bar jumps to 40 and Beal stands alone.

You can say that Beal will get over these yips and start knocking down his free throws, although he has shot 78 percent every other season — he’s not exceptional from the line. This certainly isn’t hack-a-Beal territory, but he’s below other elite shooters when it comes to free throw percentages.

That said, if you’re getting mentioned in a shooting category with Dennis Scott, that’s not bad company.