Inside The Thunder

OKC's Heightened 3-Point Percentage Weighs Positively in Point Differential

The Oklahoma City Thunder has progressed significantly in the 3-point category post All-Star break, and it's lended itself well to creating large gaps in games.

Nathan Aker

Mar 10, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA;Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) shoots against the Denver Nuggets during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Mar 10, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA;Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) shoots against the Denver Nuggets during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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Since the All-Star break, the Oklahoma City Thunder has counted 13 wins and two losses. As the team appears post-season ready, it's improving on plenty fronts.

One of those fronts has came in the form of long distance shooting, something that was a strong suit to this team a year ago which dwindled down in the early goings of this season.

In the 2023-24 season, the Thunder managed a 38.9% 3-point percentage, with several players improving in the category and marking career-high percentages to do so. Lu Dort, Jalen Williams and Aaron Wiggins just to name a few, made exceptionally large jumps.

Turning to this season in 2024-25, Williams and Wiggins percentages has dropped back down by a relatively large margin, while Dort has maintained a 0.2% increase as he shoots an impressive 39.6% on 5.7 tries a game.

These numbers, of course, extended into the team's numbers as a whole. Early in the season in the month of November, Oklahoma City went from being the best 3-point shooting team in the league the year prior to sitting at No. 19 in the league for that month. Counting all games pre All-Star break, the Thunder sat at 17th in the association shooting 35.9% from beyond the arc.

Though, as we know, Oklahoma City still steamrolled the competition to curate a large gap between itself and the rest of the Western Conference despite its 3-point decline.

But looking post All-Star break, the Thunder has had a slight uptick in threes averaged per game at 39.9 compared to 38.7, and has certainly made a significant leap in 3-point efficiency. Shooting 39.9% from long range, Oklahoma City has cultivated a positive 12.1 point differential in this span, and has played a solid role in its 13-2 record.

Leading this into the playoffs will be integral for managing offensive load from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as having the ability to lean on open shooters on top of his offensive firepower is necessary for this team to provide cushion offensively.

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Nathan Aker
NATHAN AKER

Nathan is a senior at the University of Oklahoma majoring in Public Relations set to graduate in May 2024. He holds experience covering multiple sports, primarily basketball, at the high school and collegiate level. 

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