A Surprising Face Leads 3-Point Charge for OKC Late into the Season

Oklahoma City's proficiency as a 3-point shooting squad was of the best in the entire league a year ago. As consistent and efficient as they come, and without significant alterations to the roster, it could've been assumed that the Thunder would be one of the upper echelon teams in that category again this season.

But from October into December, this team was unsuccessful in putting together a string of 3-point efficient performances, lagging in the bottom half of the league from beyond the arc.

Though, the Thunder began to pick it up since the turn into 2025, as Oklahoma City went from a bottom-half team in the NBA to eighth in the league in 3-point percentage. It boosted team confidence as a whole, and led to OKC sitting atop the best two teams in the league by the end of February.

Shooting 39.1% from the arc, the Thunder had finally cracked its best 3-point percentage on the season over the course of a month in February, yet this percentage was just barely better than the team's 38.9% season from 3-point range it boasted a year ago.

Even though, this team is clearly on a different level than the one we saw a year ago despite the shooting difference. Its quickest route to 62 wins in franchise history, a plus-minus of 13.2 points across 74 games on the year, Oklahoma City has been on a tear since October.

But now, this team is truly gaining steam from all angles. In the month of March, the Thunder is averaging a season-best 41.8% from 3-point distance, leading the NBA and currently sits on a nine-game win streak heading into Monday night's bout versus the Chicago Bulls.

At the forefront of the Thunder's uptick in 3-point efficiency isn't necessarily a player who you'd attribute as OKC's strong 3-point shooter, but he's certainly one who can hit them consistently—Jaylin Williams.

Across the team's previous 15 games, Williams has spearheaded the team from beyond the arc, shooting 52.4% on 3.2 tries from the arc per game, as Cason Wallace and Kenrich Williams followed suit. Of course, this is looking at those who shot just at least two threes per game.

When upping the shooting volume to at least four threes per game, Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe stand tall with shooting percentages around the 44% mark, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Aaron Wiggins sit around 39%.

Each of these shooters are contributing to a team-wide efficiency improvement from beyond the arc, and it's happening at one of the best times to be on a hot streak heading into April.