Capela’s first 3

Clint Capela made the first three-pointer of his National Basketball Association career on April 12, ending an 11-season wait in Houston’s regular-season finale. (nba.com) (tiktok.com) The shot came in Capela’s 739th regular-season game, according to ESPN’s clip of the play, and Basketball-Reference listed him at 738 career games before Sunday night. (tiktok.com) (basketball-reference.com) Houston beat Memphis 132-101 at Toyota Center, and Capela finished with a season-high 23 points and 13 rebounds while several Rockets regulars sat out. (apnews.com) (espn.com) Capela entered the night as a career 0-for-0 three-point shooter on Basketball-Reference, a statistical marker of how narrowly his role has stayed tied to screens, rebounds and finishes at the rim. (basketball-reference.com) That role has defined Capela since Houston drafted the 6-foot-10 center with the 25th pick in 2014. He debuted on November 6, 2014, won the National Basketball Association rebounding title in 2020-21, and built his career without adding perimeter shooting to his box score. (basketball-reference.com) (nba.com) The timing also fit the last day of the regular season, when playoff seeds were set and teams with locked-in positions rested stars. Houston finished 51-30 and fifth in the Western Conference, while Memphis ended 25-57 and out of the postseason. (espn.com 1) (espn.com 2) Houston’s inactive list Sunday included Kevin Durant, Fred VanVleet, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr. and Steven Adams, giving Capela one of his largest offensive workloads of the season. He started and went 9-for-11 from the field. (nba.com) (apnews.com) The three-pointer did not change Capela’s job heading into the playoffs, but it gave the season’s final night one of its oddest numbers: a veteran center, 739 games in, finally had one. (basketball-reference.com) (tiktok.com)