Oklahoma City Thunder: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Blazers
2. Thunder way off the mark from long range
In their regular season set against the Trail Blazers, the Thunder shot 39.3 percent from 3-point range. This was quite a bump p from their 34.8 percent shooting from distance on the season.
Conversely, the Trail Blazers shot 35.9 percent from the floor during the regular season. However, they converted just 28.5 percent of their attempts from downtown against the Thunder.
Bearing that in mind, shooting the long ball at an efficient clip was a point of emphasis for OKC coming into this series. In Game 1, though, the Thunder didn’t shoot the long ball all that well, to put it nicely.
They connected on just two of their first 22 attempts from the land of 3, before finishing the game shooting 5-for-33 – an anemic 15.2 percent.
Thunder finish 5 for 33 from 3-point range, worst for a Portland opponent this season. Worst during regular season: Celtics 5 for 28 on Feb. 27 https://t.co/j7pKLkQWy3
— Kerry Eggers (@kerryeggers) April 14, 2019
Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers shot 11-for-25 (44 percent) from beyond the arc, seven of which came in the opening quarter.
On one hand, the Thunder shot very poorly from deep in Game 1. On the other hand, despite their struggles from beyond the arc, they managed to keep the game close after falling behind early. Keeping that in mind, it is reasonable to believe that if OKC shoots at a better percentage from 3-point range, it has more than an outside change of stealing the next game.