OKC Thunder capture seventh heaven, 3 takeaways from oust of Houston
Terrance Ferguson has his best game this season.
Glancing back to last season there is the standout performance by Ferguson in Los Angeles when he scored 24 points, connected on three perimeter shots and registered some highlight dunks in 32:50 of action.
In 60 additional appearances the youngster broke double digits just four other times:
- Jan. 4, @ Clippers: 11 points
- Jan 25, Wizards: 11 points
- March 16, Clippers: 12 points
- April 11, Memphis: 12 points
This is his first double digit scoring effort of 2018-19, but the situation is different because he is now the fifth option on the floor behind each of Westbrook, George, Adams and Grant.
Still, if he can continue to build upon efforts like the game against Houston he’ll warrant potentially getting extra playing time.
The biggest development was the smoothness and effectiveness of his 3-point shot. No one could blame the youngster for being gun shy after starting the season shooting 1 of 14 through his first seven games (7 percent). However, in his last four games TFerg is 8 of 17 ( 47 percent).
I’m not suggesting Ferguson jack up nine perimeter attempts to match Thursday night. But, if the shot is falling by all means keep shooting.
As an aside, remember when I cautioned Patterson has a tendency to start the season slowly and build into December when his 3-point shot becomes more steady? Well, don’t look now, but 2Pat leads the team shooting 39.5 percent from deep (another personal favorite Deonte Burton was excluded due to his limited three appearances).
Moving forward, Ferguson’s priority has to be defense, but to reiterate if he can get his perimeter shot to consistently drop at league average he becomes a much more valuable commodity.
Hey, if I’m going to take Ferguson to task when he under performs, he gets shine when it is warranted too.