OKC Thunder film room: defensive keys to shut down Trail Blazers offense

Take away the 3-pointers

In all but one their regular season match-ups, Oklahoma City prevented Portland from surpassing the 30 percent mark from behind the arc. This needs to be accentuated in the playoffs as the Trail Blazers will surely attempt to rectify that issue with star center Nurkić out.

Here we see a perceptive Dennis Schröder come in from Meyers Leonard’s blind side to swipe the ball and convert the steal into a quick two points. It was a bit of risk as it left Seth Curry wide open for a 3-point shot, but Schröder recognized a big man with weak ball handling skills at the top of the arc and took advantage.

As can be seen in the clip, defending the three-ball doesn’t necessarily mean getting deflections. Rather, it means preventing 3-point shots altogether and capitalizing on mismatches in opportune moments.

Next, we again see the Thunder strip the Trail Blazers of the ball at the top of the arc. This time it’s Paul George reaching around to swipe the ball from C.J. McCollum before streaking down the court for an impressive dunk.

Interrupting Portland’s ball and player movement outside the arc before they can penetrate into the paint will pay dividends as the game wears on.

Yet again, the next clip shows PG defending outside the arc. Sure, Nurkić isn’t exactly a point guard and telegraphed his pass a bit, but George was still in position and perceptive enough to time his interception and convert the turnover into more transition points.

Blocking shots from beyond the arc is a difficult task no matter how good the defender is. Instead, the 3-point defense should focus on isolating poor ball handlers outside the arc, getting key strips and steals, and interrupting both player and ball movement in general.

If the OKC Thunder continue their trend of keeping the Trail Blazers from surpassing the 30 percent mark from 3-point range, then OKC will be much more likely to leave Portland with at least one win before coming home to Chesapeake Energy Arena.