OKC Thunder: Five Takeaways from Blowout Brooklyn Win
By Tony Heim
5. The Thunder are exponentially better when Russ doesn’t shoot threes
In the past two games, Russell Westbrook shot a combined five threes; going into tonight’s game Westbrook averaged 5.5 attempts per game. It’s no fluke that as his attempts from deep decrease the Thunder win.
Russ has never been a good three point shooter. For his career he’s shot 30.4% from deep and his 34.3% this season would be a career high. It’s just not efficient for him to hoist five a game, especially when they are contested.
Westbrook is beginning to understand this though. He hasn’t taken more than five attempts in his past five games; instead those threes are turning into mid-range jumpers, which is a strength of his. Throw out the fact that OKC lost three of those games. Russ’ teammates came out with little effort so we can’t blame Russ for those losses.
When Russ takes the three out of his mind it opens up the rest of the offensive. Those six threes turn into six extra drives to the basket. He’s shot 45% or better in his last four games because his focus is on getting in the teeth of the defense and finding holes to kick to teammates.
Hopefully Westbrook is making a concerted effort to shoot less from deep. Tonight was a heavy indicator that that’s the case. He was on fire from mid-range tonight, yet he only attempted one three the whole game. He passed up open threes to get better looks for his teammates. That’s huge for the Oklahoma City offense.