OKC Thunder Continue to Have 3-Point Shooting Problem

Oklahoma City is still at the top of the league, but its outside shooting numbers are becoming more concerning.

The Thunder got back into the win column on Sunday against the Philadelphia 76ers and followed that up with a hard-fought Monday night win over the Atlanta Hawks. After the losses had started to pile up in the middle of the month, the Thunder found their defensive identity for stretches at home and have started another win streak.

While getting back into the win column is ultimately all that matters, the Thunder’s past few games have also uncovered one of the team’s potential downfalls. In Monday night’s win, the Thunder shot 12-of-32 from 3-point range, a solid 37.5% clip after some recent struggles.

However, that type of performance won’t always be enough in today’s NBA. Despite the Thunder controlling the game in most areas, Atlanta hit a franchise-record 25 threes to stay with the defending champs throughout the night.

As more and more teams continue to increase their 3-point volume, the Thunder might simply be at the mercy of their opponents on occasion if they have a hot shooting night. While outside shooting percentage is obviously something Oklahoma City has to fix, it also needs to increase its volume from deep on some nights to stay in line with the rest of the league.

Over the Thunder’s past 15 games, they’ve only made more threes than their opponents in three of those contests. In that stretch, the Thunder are averaging two fewer makes and five fewer attempts per game than their opponents.

While an average discrepancy of six points from beyond the arc isn’t necessarily a big deal, that type of trend can easily lead to nights like Monday, where Oklahoma City is 39 points down from beyond the arc. After seeing the Thunder’s outside shooting struggles in the postseason, it is still clearly an area of concern.

Of course, fixing the problem is as simple as hitting shots and running players off the 3-point line. While the Thunder’s defensive strategy is more geared toward limiting easy buckets inside and living with the shooting variance, it can always come back to bite them.

The 3-point shooting discrepancy will likely continue to be the top weakness for the Thunder throughout the season. However, if the offense can start creating and making better looks from 3-point range, the Thunder might have the final piece to the puzzle again this season.