SALT LAKE CITY — You know how Harry Potter's friends at Hogwarts flipped out and cringed whenever anybody dared to blurt out the name of He Who Must Not Be Named?
Kyle Korver might not freak out when hearing a certain villain's name, but the Jazz guard had a Ron Weasley-like reaction when his place amongst the NBA's 3-point shooters was mentioned.
(Don't say it around Korver, but he leads the NBA in 3-point accuracy by, well, a long shot. He is shooting an insanely spot-on 57 percent, going 45-for-79 from beyond the arc, which is far ahead of No. 2 Mike Miller's 49.5 percent clip.)
"Shhhhhh," Korver quickly said when asked about being the NBA's top 3-point shooter.
Korver then hurriedly knocked on a wooden part of his locker while teasingly (or maybe not) adding, "C'mon!"
In other words: Talking about leading the league from long range is his Voldemort.
(Bwaaaaaah!)
The hot streak of the career 41 percent 3-point shooter, who only shot .352 in 2007-08 and .386 last year from outside, is not exactly a secret.
"He can just flat-out shoot the basketball," Jazz swingman C.J. Miles said.
It helps, Korver claimed, that his body feels as healthy as it has in years going into tonight's home game against Minnesota. The right-handed shooter's wrist and his left knee are both at full strength and properly functioning after being surgically repaired in the past year.
Having a healthy wrist has really helped tweak and tune up Korver's shot. It had bothered him since he missed the final eight games of his final full season in Philadelphia in 2006-07 before he was traded to Utah. It's finally feeling like it should almost a year after having surgery last May.
"I look back and I'm just like, 'Man, my shooting percentages are so low, like, what was going on here?' " Korver said. "That surgery really cured a lot of things for me."
Good news for the Jazz, whose offense opens up when Korver and other 3-point shooters pull defenders out.
Bad news for opponents, who have seen him hit treys in seven of nine games and bury multiple threes in 12 of 37 outings.
"I feel like I felt my first couple of years in the NBA, back in college, where I can really let it set in my wrist and I can just shoot shots every day, I can get in a rhythm every day," said Korver, who's celebrating his 29th birthday today. "As a shooter, that's super important — and for a couple of years … I couldn't really do that and it showed."
Deron Williams, who's had his own recent wrist woes, can tell Korver is playing pain-free.
"Last year was a frustrating year for him because of the wrist," the point guard said. "I know how he feels a little bit now going through it myself. I know how frustrating it can be, being so inconsistent with your shot."
Williams notices more pep in Korver's step, too.
"This year since his knee has gotten healthier, he's come off those screens and he's shooting so well for us," Williams said.
Having Korver drill his kick-out passes has helped the Jazz's offensive spacing — an offense, by the way, that isn't exactly loaded with sets designed to end up with a 3-pointer. The longball isn't exactly Sloan's favorite shot (unless, the coach will wryly tell you, it goes in).
"We don't have one play for a three," Korver revealed.
But the Jazz often drive-and-dish and swing the ball around to open guys on the outside, so 3-point-hungry players do get chances.
"Our offense predicates that everyone's always dangerous," Korver said. "So when guys are sagging in, there's always going to be shots."
According to ESPN stat guru John Hollinger, the Jazz have one of the sweetest shooters in modern NBA history. Korver ranks as the league's 15th-best shooter in the 3-point era, based on a formula that factors in percentages from inside and outside the arc and from the free-throw line.
Almost surprisingly, Korver didn't wig out when asked about this ranking. He expects to be up there.
"It's not high enough," he said of his top 15 spot. "I'm just going to keep on trying to move up."
Jeff Hornacek, by the way, is No. 5 on Hollinger's list, so he's just one of the guys Korver is hoping to pass.
Shooting, he isn't afraid to admit, is his specialty.
"This is what I do. This is why I'm in the NBA, you know," Korver said. "This is why I got here and I try to do it well."
The top of the NBA 3-point rankings (shhhh!) and the bottom of the nets have noticed.
e-mail: jody@desnews.com