Game Preview: How the OKC Thunder can take advantage of the bickering Warriors

Limit 3-point attempts

The Thunder are a better team when they limit their 3-point attempts. Take Monday night against the Kings as an example, OKC launched 41 threes, with Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Dennis Schroder, and Patrick Patterson combining to shoot 8-35, OKC ultimately lost the match.

The game followed a two-year trend for Oklahoma City. Over the past two seasons when OKC attempts 35 or more threes, they are 13-11 when they launch 27 or fewer their record is 23-11. Tonight, the Thunder must avoid the same trap they fell into against the Kings and refrain from launching long balls.

Battle of the league’s bottom-five benches

Both the Thunder and Warriors benches rank in the bottom five in points per game. But, they are performing much differently in the shooting department. Golden States bench ranks in the top-five in field goal percentage and three-point percentage. Whereas, OKC’s bench ranks in the bottom-five in the same two categories.

Both benches have been nullified by injuries, but the dubs bench has a positive plus-minus thanks in large part to the shooting percentage. OKC’s bench should improve since Schroder is back in his sixth man role and Hamidou Diallo‘s continued ascension. It will be intriguing to see how the two sides stack up tonight.

Matchup to watch: Klay vs. T-Ferg and KD vs. PG

On opening night T-Ferg looked like a deer in the headlights on offense. But, he held his ground defensively while guarding splash broth Klay Thompson. Ferguson was matched up with Klay on 37 possessions, he limited Klay to a mere two-points on six field goal attempts.

The other matchup to monitor is KD vs. PG. When the two forwards matched up on opening night, their numbers were nearly identical. Durant held George to 18 points on 6-12 shooting in 46 possessions. Conversely, PG allowed KD to score 17 points on 6-13 on 47 possessions. With luck, this evenings matchup between the two All-Stars will be just as satisfactory.