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It may have taken starting a rebuild for the Oklahoma City Thunder to be a good 3-point shooting team.
And yet with the Thunder at 4-6 to start the season, they’re one of the best shooting teams in the NBA.
The Thunder made a season-high 17 3-pointers in their 121-119 loss Sunday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. Mike Muscala and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander each had a team-high four 3-pointers, and Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder each had three.
Through 10 games this season, the Thunder rank seventh in the league for 3-point percentage, shooting at a 37.5% clip. As a team, the Thunder make 11.5 3-pointers a game, and five players account for a good portion of those makes.
Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander, Terrance Ferguson, Danilo Gallinari and Darius Bazley combine for 8.7 of the Thunder’s 3-pointers per game. Each player has shot at least 38% from 3-point range.
Despite being two games under .500, the Thunder’s quality shooting has helped them remain competitive.
They’ve only shot below 36% from the 3-point line in two games. Both of those were losses, and in both games, they lost by 12 or fewer points. In games where they have shot 36% or better from deep, they’re 4-4. In each of the four losses, the Thunder have lost by single digits.
This ain’t over. @shaiglalex drills back2back threes. #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/WKN5tKFizi
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 11, 2019
Having new players such as Paul, Gallinari and Gilgeous-Alexander has helped the Thunder improve their shooting.
Paul and Gallinari have both shot at least 37% from 3-point range in their careers. A rookie last season, Gilgeous-Alexander shot 36.7% with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Ferguson has also improved his shooting steadily over his career. He’s shooting 38.1% from three on 2.1 attempts. Bazley, a rookie, has shot 40.0% on 2.5 attempts. He ranks seventh among rookies for 3-point percentage, according to NBA.com.
Thunder battles till the end. @gallinari8888 pic.twitter.com/KVHPSMmctU
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 11, 2019
In the past three seasons, the Thunder have been in the bottom half of the league for 3-point percentage. The last time they were in the top half was in the 2013-14 season, when they ranked 14th.
Their top two shooters last season were Jerami Grant and Paul George, but both players were traded this offseason to the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers, respectively. Ferguson was the team’s third-best 3-point shooter last season, hitting at a 36.6% clip.
The Thunder are rebuilding, but they have a budding young player in Gilgeous-Alexander. Paul and Gallinari are proven talents, so their leadership helps. Though the Thunder might not make the playoffs, their shooting ability gives them a chance to compete against most teams.
OKC will play the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
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