OKC Thunder are the NBA’s Top 3-Point Shooting Team
After a decade-plus of the Oklahoma City faithful longing for long-range shooters, they may finally have their wish.
Currently, the Thunder are the top 3-point shooting team in the NBA, hitting a blistering 41% percent of their shots from beyond the arc. And it's helped the team jump to a 10-4 record, which is currently good for the No. 3 seed in the loaded Western Conference.
The next closest are the Kevin Durant-led Phoenix Suns at 39.2%.
Oklahoma City isn’t necessarily taking any record amount — ranking No. 24 in that department shooting 31.4 a game — which is a testament to their drive-and-kick play-style. But that very system has yielded countless open shots, and the team is capitalizing on them at an astonishing rate.
OKC’s most recent win over Portland, a scalding 134-91 victory, was a prime example, as the team hit on 61% of its 36 attempted threes.
Taking a closer look at individual players tells a similar story.
Sharpshooter Isaiah Joe against leads the way from outside, shooting a blistering 50% on 5.6 3-pointers attempted per game, which is far-and-away the best overall mark on the team factoring in volume.
The Thunder's hyper-efficient newbies, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace, have also bolstered the stat. Wallace is hitting 54% of his 1.7 attempts per game, while Holmgren is shooting 46% on a respectable 3.3.
The other major difference-maker is Lu Dort, who so far is hitting on 46% of his threes.
A hard regression to the mean may be coming for Oklahoma City, who right now as a team are shooting close to 50-40-90. But there’s no question they’re a much, much improved shooting team after finishing within the bottom five of the league in the last several years.
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