Player Grades: OKC Thunder third quarter malaise leads to Pelicans victory in final pre-break game

Filling in for Jerami Grant I was hoping Patrick Patterson would bring a sense of urgency to the court. As a veteran PPat knows all too well how important the final game prior to the break is. And, with Davis gone for the entirety of the second half, it seemed logical he could play the role of x-factor. If for example, he had shot 50 percent on his 3-point attempts he could’ve pushed the Thunder over the top.

Unfortunately, Pat went 0-4 from deep and his defense on Julius Randle and his other defensive assignments were nowhere near the level he’s capable of providing.

I’ve come to the conclusion Patterson harbors some sort of strange superstition about starting. Going back to his Raptors days the big man simply does so much better coming off the bench. Diving into his production over the past few months there are notable shifts in his production:

• Dec: 2.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, 29.2 percent from deep
• Jan: 4.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 43.3 percent from deep
• Feb to present: 3.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 45.5 percent from deep

Let’s hope this upward trend continues and if Sam Presti can add one more shooter to the reserve unit it could very well result in an uptick to Patterson’s production through the final 25 games.