Will 3-Point Shooting Finally Swing Thunder's Way Against Spurs?

Oklahoma City has had one recurring issue throughout the first half of the season, and it must overcome that to beat one of its biggest threats in the West.

Over the first few months of the season, the Thunder have been the NBA’s best team. While they aren’t playing at the same level they did on their way to a 24-1 start, they’ve still maintained one of the league’s best marks and appear to be hitting another stride as they enter a tough mid-January stretch.

To begin that stretch, the Thunder will be facing the San Antonio Spurs. Of the Thunder’s seven losses thus far, the Spurs account for three of them, taking all of the matchups between the teams going into Tuesday’s matchup.

While Victor Wembanyama has given Oklahoma City plenty of problems, and will likely do so again with Isaiah Hartenstein still sidelined, the outside shooting has been a key difference across the three contests. While the Thunder even have a 40% shooting night from deep against San Antonio this season, they’ve yet to win the 3-point battle in percentage or overall makes.

In the Thunder’s most recent game against the Spurs on Christmas, they shot only 11-of-44 from beyond the arc. Good for the sixth-most threes Oklahoma City has attempted this season, it simply couldn’t find any rhythm from that range.

Unfortunately for the Thunder, that’s been a theme all season, and it’s been especially noticeable over the past week. In the Thunder’s past four games, they’ve shot 37-of-148 from 3-point range, good for 25% overall and never hitting more than 29% of their looks in any of those contests.

If the Thunder can’t break even the 30% mark from downtown on Tuesday night, it might be another rough game against a team that already matches up well with the defending champs. Given how many ways San Antonio can disrupt Oklahoma City’s offense already, getting some 3-point shots to fall is critical for the Thunder.

Meanwhile, the Thunder also need to prevent San Antonio from getting hot from outside. While the Spurs shot just 31% in the NBA Cup matchup in Vegas, they shot 27-of-65 across the two-game Christmas series, good for a blistering 41% from 3-point range.

If those numbers stay the same, the Thunder will have a tough time beating the Spurs in their fourth try. However, if the Thunder can finally break through, play their brand of basketball and get some timely shots to drop, they’ll have a great chance to end their skid against the Spurs.