3 takeaways after OKC Thunder grind out win over Los Angeles Lakers

In the last three games, Oklahoma City has scored the following in the third quarter:

• 14 points on 6-24 shooting (25 percent), 1-10 from three (10 percent) and 1-3 from the line (33 percent) vs Dallas Mavericks (A)
• 32 points on 12-29 shooting (41.1 percent), 1-8 from three (12.5 percent), 8-10 from the line (80 percent) vs Dallas Mavericks (H)
• 19 points on 5-23 shooting (21.1 percent), 1-8 from three (12.5 percent), 8-12 from the line (75 percent) vs Los Angeles Lakers (A)

OKC is shooting 29.1 percent from the field, 11.7 percent from three and 62.7 percent from the line. But the most interesting aspect of their scoring struggles are the line-ups Billy Donovan is electing to deploy.

In both away games against the Mavericks and Lakers, Donovan played Steven Adams, Paul George, Jerami Grant and Russell Westbrook the entire third quarter. Dennis Schroder checks in after six minutes for the fifth starter and the offense has been terrible. After being the best third quarter team in the association, Donovan’s tweak to the third quarter rotations has caused the team to regress considerably.

When Donovan gives his second unit more time on court, OKC’s offense is much more fluid.

While the Thunder shot below average in the home game versus Dallas, they posted 32 points on 12-29 shooting. Led by Schroder, OKC’s second unit of Nerlens Noel, Patrick Patterson, Hamidou Diallo, and Abdel Nader has played exceptionally well and allowed the starters to rest.

It’s unclear why Donovan doesn’t trust his role players but he needs to take a look at his rotations. The Thunder’s second unit has overcome deficits in two of the last three games and get pulled too early. Donovan needs to show greater trust in his second unit and if they’re humming, reward them by extending their minutes.