3 takeaways following OKC Thunder victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers

Limit Raymond Felton

With Westbrook recovering from a sprained ankle, Raymond Felton has found himself back in OKC’s rotation as the second unit’s floor general. However, the 14-year veteran has one major flaw – he possesses one of the itchiest trigger fingers in the game.

When Felton gets on court, there is not a shot he doesn’t like.  Despite shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from three for his career, Felts will let it fly without hesitation to the detriment of the team. Against the Cavaliers, Felton posted four points (2-6 shooting, 0-1 from three), three steals, 2 assists, one rebound in 14 minutes.

His two lone makes from the field are shown below:

Felton opts to take the worst shot in basketball – a deep 2-point jumper just inside the 3-point line. Two plays later, Felts makes a runner in the key but notice how he doesn’t even look Noel’s way for the lob. Noel is one of the most athletic big men in the NBA yet Felton doesn’t look to get him the ball.

The major problem with Felton isn’t his counting numbers, its in the advanced metrics. Felton had an offensive rating of 64.5, a defensive rating of 100 to register a negative-35.5 net rating while he was on court. The offense suffers severely when he dominates the ball and he’s too small to defend anyone.

Billy Donovan must tell him to move the ball or threaten to give him pom poms to cheer the team on. OKC’s second unit has been humming all season long and looked like last year’s bench unit as soon as he graced the court.