The OKC Thunder will live by the 3-ball, die by the 3-ball
In the first quarter of the Pelicans game, the Thunder took 21 shots, 16 of them from deep. They were falling at a sound clip which meant that the Thunder were able to stay in touch despite losing the offensive rebound battle and giving up second-chance points. The Thunder only took five shots from inside the arc for the quarter, making two.
By the end of the first half, the Thunder had taken 41 shots and 29 of them had been from deep. This tied the Thunder record for a half and meant that only 12 shots had been taken from inside the arc. All of these were in the paint meaning none had come from the mid-range at all.
https://twitter.com/okcthunder/status/1344828127747436552?s=20
By the end of the game the Thunder had taken 80 shots, 48 of these were from beyond the arc. This is 60 percent of all shots taken for the game. The problem for the Thunder was that they ended up making only 15 which gave them a 31.3 conversion rate from deep.
This meant that the Thunder shot the ball at 37.5 percent from the field once you factor in the shots from deep and the two-point field goals. On top of that, the Thunder went 5-of-15 from the line which is 33.3 percent.
If the 3-ball is not dropping the Thunder are in real trouble.