LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 22: Hamidou Diallo # 6 of the Oklahoma City Thunder responds to a … [+]
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While the Oklahoma City Thunder is 8-9 through their first 17 games of the season, their net rating of -6.3 is the third-worst in the entire NBA. With that in mind, when you take a closer look, only a quarter holds this team back.
Oklahoma City has become accustomed to this season of taking 3-pointers early and often. In fact, their quarterback efforts are 11.2 per game from outside the arc most of any team. To make matters worse, the Thunder fired 27.9 percent from depth in the first quarter of this season, the worst in the NBA. At one point during their recent road trip to Los Angeles to play the Clippers, Oklahoma City went 0-21 from bringing together the first quarter of those two matchups.
The combination of taking the first 3-points in the first quarter while shooting the worst percentage has led to a net rate in the first quarter of -24.6, again as the team’s most worse.
Mark Daigneault and Thunder’s mind are the ones that provide the protection. They rarely take the approach this season of trying to focus pictures from a particular area of the floor. Their unstoppable and multiplayer style of play definitely requires more 3-point attempts, but should probably be worked into later in games. In several matchups this season, the Thunder have come down with double-digit points after a quarter of play. Oklahoma City has averaged 24.5 points per game in the first quarter during the 2020-21 season, falling in the second-worst place in the NBA in that division.
While it wouldn’t be natural to shoot fewer 3 tokens to start games, the Thunder should try to create the best picture and just take in views from outside the open arc and in rhythm. If the bullet does not meet these criteria, continuing to run the offense and moving into their next reading may be the best option.
Interestingly enough, Oklahoma City’s 3-point shooting gets better as the games progress. They fire 35.6 percent in the second quarter and 37.1 percent in the third quarter from depth. They have also accumulated a net rating of -0.5 and +6.1 in these quarters respectively.
If the Oklahoma City Thunder can find a way to generate better views in the first quarter of their matchups and not fall in love with 3-pointers, their overall net rating should continue to development, along with their schedule.