Beyond the Arc: OKC Thunder Are NBA's Worst 3-Point Shooting Team
The perennial 3-point shooting struggles continue to haunt the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Here in the 2021-22 season, the Thunder currently sit dead last in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage with a mere 30.5% from behind the arc.
The Thunder’s three-headed monster of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort and rookie Josh Giddey combined to attempt 19 3-point shots on Friday against the Lakers, making just three of them. This was detrimental to the team in this individual performance, as making these shots is key to winning games in the modern NBA.
Much like the Thunder’s overall success, OKC's 3-point shooting has been up-and-down throughout the season, but the lack of consistency has continued to hurt them.
In the Thunder’s last four games, they've experienced a 73-point loss, a 21-point loss and two wins. In those four contests, OKC made as many as 17 3-pointers and as few as nine. Over that same stretch, the Thunder have shot 31.9% while shooting nearly 37 triples per game.
This young Thunder team continues to find itself trailing, needing to get points back from behind the arc, but the woes from deep have made those deficits insurmountable.
This is exactly what happened Friday night when the Thunder entered the fourth quarter trailing the Lakers 93-68. Oklahoma City had completed two previous comebacks against Los Angeles this season, but the shooting wasn’t there for the Thunder, even though it improved in the fourth.
On the season, Mike Muscala currently leads the way for OKC in 3-point percentage shooting a respectable 42.5% from deep. However, the Thunder starters of SGA, Dort, Giddey, Darius Bazley and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl have not had the same efficiency of the veteran Muscala.
Of those five, Robinson-Earl and Dort are the only two shooting better than 30% from deep, with SGA, Bazley and Giddey all below that mark.
On the defensive end, Oklahoma City hasn't been able to contain 3-point shots as well as they'd like. Thunder opponents are shooting just under 37% from three, making OKC one of the bottom four teams in opponent 3-point percentage.
In the last four games the Thunder has allowed 69 3-pointers, which is an average of 17.25 per game.
The Thunder’s next opponent, the Dallas Mavericks, have the sixth worst 3-point defense in the NBA, allowing opponents to shoot 36%. The Mavs also are shooting just 32.7% from 3 on the offensive end, giving the Thunder an opportunity to find their stride from beyond the arc.
Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
