How the OKC Thunder has Methodized One of the Best Half-Court Offenses in the NBA

Oklahoma City held a strong half-court offense in the league last year, as well as in transition. But this season, the team has refined its half-court sets to an even greater extent.

Last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder boasted one of the best transition offenses.

With a young, rim-running team, Oklahoma City found itself at the top of the league in points off takeaways, as well as top 10 in fast break points overall. Second in the NBA in percentage of points off turnovers, the Thunder's 8.1 steals per game sparked those opportunities, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co. capitalized. 

And while they easily led the league in drives per game, Oklahoma City's execution in a half-court setting was not close to what the team has seen this season.

With a number of additions to bolster the Thunder on that front like rookies Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace, and with improved shooters in Aaron Wiggins and Jalen Williams to help increase the team's 3-point percentage by nearly 4% thus far this season, Oklahoma City's offense has found a true dynamic.

This has led to head coach Mark Daigneault lean further into the brunt of his offensive philosophy – attack the gaps and drive, collapse the defense and probe to find open shooters along the perimeter while tilting on Gilgeous-Alexander's one-man scoring ability.

His strategy and the Thunder's increased skill this season has seen Oklahoma City lead the league in drives this season with 63.5 per game, six more drives than the next closest team. In addition to that, the main difference from last season to now comes in efficiency in those attacks to the rim.  

While the team led the league in points per game on drives to the cup last season with 35.7, Oklahoma City was outside the top 20 in field goal percentage in that preparation. Now, 54 games into the season, the Thunder have upped their points per game on the drive to 37.0, while maintaining a top-three field goal percentage – highlighting the stark contrast of efficiency between the two seasons. 

And these stats are primarily derived from Gilgeous-Alexander's offensive approach and patient play style. He blows every other player out of the water in total drives on the year with 1265, as the next closest is Jalen Brunson with 971.

His 1265 drives this season has brought the most points obviously, but also sees the superstar guard with the second most assists while sitting just ninth in turnovers on drives.

And as a 88.3% free throw shooter on the season while garnering 9.1 attempts from the charity stripe per game, he's the best half-court driver in the league.

Gilgeous-Alexander's skillfulness in Daigneault's offensive scheme is seemingly a match made in heaven, especially with the complementary pieces that general manager Sam Presti is continuing to stock the Thunder lineup with.

This type of sustained offense in the half court on drives to the rim – and we haven't even touched on the other half-court aspects – will prove to be a needle mover in the playoffs if teams limit their ability to leak out in transition.

As a whole, this offense is such an intriguing one to watch, and will continue to be into April.

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