Joe Harris’ 3-Point Shootout victory is only a surprise if you weren’t paying attention

Stephen Curry will probably go down as the greatest shooter in NBA history. It’s actually already written. If Reggie Miller says it, it must be true.

But Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris is a better shooter than Stephen Curry, both by percentage this year and now by beating him in the 3-Point Shootout.

San Antonio’s Davis Bertans is the only player with a higher three-point percentage than Harris entering the All-Star break, and Harris has made 23 more triples than Bertans on 51 more attempts. He’s an expert marksman while taking a high volume of triples.

So it should have been no surprise that Harris put up 25 points in the first round, then 26 in the second round before hoisting the trophy after Saturday night’s 3-Point Shootout. Without any defense, it should have been no surprise that Harris made 36 out of 50 shots, including 15 money balls.

This is a man who eats, breathes and sleeps three-pointers. It was evident after he fended off Curry in his own hometown of Charlotte.

In the two games leading into the All-Star break, Harris shot 11-of-13 from three. That’s a cool 84.6 percent from deep he hung on two team’s heads.

Harris has made at least four three-pointers in a game 11 times this season. He also has an effective field goal percentage of 71.7 on catch-and-shoot 3s — the second-best mark behind Bertans, who, again, he’s attempting and making more shots than.

A four-year performer at Tony Bennett’s Virginia — he was recruited by Bennett to play at Washington State before joining Bennett at UVA — Harris was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft. Though he had a skill set that should’ve been useful for a LeBron James-led team, Harris never got a chance to stick in the rotation and was eventually traded to the Magic, where he was subsequently waived.

At that point, Harris was thought to be out of the league. Then, in the summer of 2016, the talent-poor Brooklyn Nets gave him a call. Finally, Harris had an opportunity to shine that he never got in Cleveland.

He’s taken that chance in the seasons since. Harris shot 38.5 percent from three his first year in Brooklyn, 41.9 percent in Year 2, and is shooting an incredible 47.1 percent from deep this year. His rise has coincided with the slow rise of the Nets, who are in playoff position six and a half years after handing away the bulk of their first-round picks and young talent to Boston in the ill-fated Kevin Garnett trade.

This is the climax of one hell of a ride for Harris, who is shooting the lights out for a Nets team making a playoff push for the first time in years. He’s one of the poster-children for Brooklyn’s player development, which is seeing results across the board.

And he’s the best shooter in the NBA. It’s not a surprise anymore. It’s just facts.