So far this 2024-25 NBA season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have looked like one of the best teams in the entire league. From their historic defense to their ability to score from almost anywhere, very few teams have found a way to defeat them.
However, as the season has progressed, there has been one glaring issue for the Thunder on the offensive end that teams may start to exploit in the near future to capture meaningful wins when playing OKC.
Three-point shooting slump in Loud City
Last season, the Thunder were lights out when it came to shooting the three ball. While they ranked 16th in total attempts in 2023-24 (34.2), they placed first in the NBA in overall team three-point percentage (39%).
With 31 games into the season, Oklahoma City currently sit in 22nd place in team three-point percentage (35%) while also taking more attempts compared to the season prior (39.1, ninth in the NBA).
While the shooting hasn’t necessarily affected the Thunder’s ability to win games, come playoff time it will definitely make an impact, as the top six teams with the highest three-point percentages are all anticipating long playoff pushes:
| Team: | Rank: | Percentage: |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 1st | 40.9 |
| New York Knicks | 2nd | 38.9 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 3rd | 38.9 |
| Denver Nuggets | 4th | 38.3 |
| Phoenix Suns | 5th | 37.8 |
| Dallas Mavericks | 6th | 37.6 |
| OKC Thunder | 22nd | 34.5 |
And it is not just two or three new players shooting poorly that is affecting the team’s shooting performance. The team as a whole is shooting poorly from beyond the arc, with the majority of the best shooters on OKC in significant slumps:
| Name: | 2023-24 3PT%: | 2024-25 3PT%: |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 35% | 34% |
| Jalen Williams | 43% | 37% |
| Lu Dort | 39% | 38.6% |
| Isaiah Joe | 42% | 35% |
| Aaron Wiggins | 49% | 38% |
| Cason Wallace | 42% | 30% |
Is this due to the fact that the Thunder are shooting much more from three so as a result they are bound to miss more? Or is OKC truly in some kind of three-point hole that they can’t seem to climb out of?
Whatever the answer is, luckily for them they have the best defense in the NBA along with leading the league in free throw percentage (82%) and are second in midrange field goal percentage (46.9%).
However, those attributes can only take a team so far. In today’s NBA, many teams live and die by the three, and the majority of the time the team that makes more threes than the other gets the win. Hopefully down the line OKC can figure out a way to improve from deep.
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