OKC Thunder: 5 Deciding factors to win series versus Jazz
Defending The Corner 3
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Utah ranked 12th in the NBA hitting 36 percent of their threes this season on 29.3 attempts per game. Like most teams, Utah is at its best shooting corner threes. The Jazz shoot 41 percent from the left corner and 42 percent from the right corner.
The Jazz have five key players that shoot at least 40 percent from the left corner including Donovan Mitchell (60 percent ) and Joe Ingles (51.4 percent ) and Jonas Jerebko (51.3 percent).
From the right corner, Ingles shoots 47.5 percent , Jerebko is at 54.8 percent and Jae Crowder is at a whopping 63.2 percent . If Utah is getting wide open looks in the corners, the Thunder are going to be in deep trouble.
The Thunder were 19th in the NBA in team three point defense, allowing opponents to shoot 36.7 percent from three point range. In reality, this is more of an effort concept than a strategical one.
Steven Adams is more than capable of defending Rudy Gobert. This means it will be up to the Thunder wings to close out and prevent Utah from getting wide-open looks. Other than Donovan Mitchell, Utah doesn’t have anybody that scares you from a drive-and-dish standpoint. Utah relies on ball-movement and crisp execution., As long as the Thunder stay disciplined and don’t fall asleep defensively, they should be in good shape.