The OKC Thunder dropped their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. The result may have been different if Paul George had taken the last 3-point shot instead of Russell Westbrook.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were on the losing end of their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night, by a final score of 119-117. While any loss hurts, the result may have been different for the OKC Thunder if they had given the ball to Paul George instead.
Russell Westbrook is the leader of the team and its MVP player, but he just is not shooting well this season. He is only shooting 23.5 percent from the 3-point line. George, meanwhile, is shooting 38.4 percent from deep.
Paul George has made 132 3s this year, while Westbrook has only made 36. In the fourth quarter, Westbrook has only made 10 triples and is shooting 25 percent in the quarter. George has made 23 3s and is shooting 39.7 percent in the fourth.
That is a big difference and in a crowded Western Conference where almost every team is good, a loss like this can hurt down the road. The Timberwolves are 20-21, but they played good defense on the final possession and ended getting a hard-earned win.
With OKC trailing by two, Westbrook launched a corner 3 that misfired. Steven Adams pulled down the offensive rebound and found Westbrook for another look. He missed that 3 too, and the game was over.
Westbrook was sensational in keeping OKC in it, and eventually getting them the lead. But two questionable 3s right at the end is going to be what dominates this postgame conversation. For context: George had just missed two wide open 3s in the closing minutes as well.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) January 9, 2019
Paul George should have gotten the last shot. That is not saying it would have gone in, but it definitely would’ve had a better chance of going in if it had left his fingertips instead.
George is coming off of a December where he averaged 30.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from downtown. He had three 40-point games last month as well.
Coming off a month that was MVP-caliber, George should’ve gotten a look at the final shot.
With the Indiana Pacers, George was the go-to player and the person the team relied on to make clutch baskets. It seems that he’s had to take a step back in OKC at times, even when he has the hot hand.
It’s understandable why Westbrook took the shot(s) at the end. From 2016-18, he led the league with 11 game-tying or go-ahead shots made in the final 10 seconds.
George is 33rd in clutch points with 2.6 per game, while Westbrook is 40th with 2.4 per game. There’s not much space between George and Westbrook in terms of who is more clutch by that measure.
If you’re looking at it from the stats shown above though, George is still the better option to take the shot, especially if the Thunder were going for a game-winning 3. He’s making his 3s more efficiently, and has just flat-out made more this season.
The Thunder could have at least looked George’s way for a better opportunity to make the final shot. If the situation comes up again in the upcoming games, the Thunder should look George’s way for late 3-point looks.
The OKC Thunder are playing well though even though they lost this game, and they should be fine down the road. Westbrook is a clutch player and he will make more clutch shots down the road for the Thunder, but Tuesday night, it should’ve been George letting it fire.