Why are the Thunder jacking up more 3s? Because they want to win.

LOS ANGELES — Led by Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the top isolation teams in the NBA (averaging 11.4 isolations a game so far this season, tied with Boston for most in the league).

It works for them. Last season, they snaked their way into the paint in isolation and put up a 118.3 offensive rating, third-best in the league.

Then the playoffs came. Those driving lanes dried up, teams packed the paint and the Thunder’s offensive rating fell to 110.9 — OKC struggled to score. After being eliminated, the Thunder watched the iso-heavy Celtics — a team who also jacked up more 3-pointers a game than any team in the NBA — go on to win the title.

Lesson learned.

At the urging of coach Mark Daigneault, the Thunder are taking 15.3% more 3s a game this season, from 34.2 attempts a game last season up to 39.4 a night this season. That’s not coming from floor-spacing bigs like Chet Holmgren, it’s almost all from the guards and wings.

The Thunder are 7-0 to start the season.

“It doesn’t matter how you get it done every night, if you win, that’s all that matters. And the teams that have won in the past maybe a decade or so, they’ve shot a lot of 3s,” Gilgeous-Alexander said this past weekend, referencing not only Boston but Golden State and others. “I think that’s why the league’s gone the way it is, because teams want to win.”

‘I appreciate your concern’

Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 6.6 3-point attempts a game this season, nearly double what he put up a season ago. While a modified jumper looks tighter, SGA is shooting just 28.3% from 3 to start the season.

What does Gilgeous-Alexander say to the people who think he’s taking too many 3s?

“I appreciate your concern.”

Already teams are adjusting. Saturday night, the Clippers, with their strong point-of-attack perimeter defenders, were picking SGA up much higher on the floor to take away those looks.

“It’s not where I want it to be and I’m gonna continue to shoot more,” SGA said after attempting just four 3-pointers against the Clippers. “I feel like I could have shot more tonight… I’m going to shoot them to keep the…

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Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-05 17:09:00

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