{"id":158288,"date":"2025-09-21T02:15:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T02:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/158288\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T02:15:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T02:15:07","slug":"looking-into-2024-25-okc-thunders-playoff-scoring-profile-part-three-3-point-scori","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/158288\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Into 2024-25 OKC Thunder’s Playoff Scoring Profile, Part Three: 3-Point Scori"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder churned out 2-point baskets throughout its championship run. The Thunder showed off elite volume in the restricted area<\/a>, alongside above-average volume and efficiency on mid-range shots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, after a regular season in which it shot 37.4% on 3-pointers (No. 6 in NBA<\/a>), Oklahoma City shot 33.8% from downtown during the postseason \u2014 the fourth-worst mark<\/a> among playoff teams. The No. 14 Detroit Pistons (32.4%), No. 15 Memphis Grizzlies (30.4%) and No. 16 Orlando Magic (26.3%) all lost in the first round, winning just three of their 15 combined games.<\/p>\n

The playoff Thunder shot 35.0 threes per game (No. 8 in NBA<\/a>) and averaged 11.8 makes (No. 11 in NBA<\/a>). Its 3-point percentage fell below the average by 1.6%, since all 16 teams shot 2,090-for-5,097 from beyond the arc. Make no mistake: The Thunder stood out negatively from previous modern-era champions.<\/p>\n

The No. 1 overall seed’s struggles were even more atypical because it is an extremely selective shooting team. Oklahoma City attempted 94.4% of its 3-pointers on open<\/a> or wide-open<\/a> looks, meaning when the nearest defender was at least four feet away.<\/p>\n

Eight Thunder players averaged at least 2.5 outside attempts during the playoffs, with just three of them shooting above 35%. Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso, two of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders, recorded the most 3-point volume among Thunder role players<\/a> and made more triples<\/a> than everyone else on the roster. They combined to shoot<\/a> 85-for-230 (37.0%) from deep, making 3.7 threes per game.<\/p>\n

Player<\/p>\n

3-Point Makes Per Game<\/p>\n

3-Point Attempts Per Game<\/p>\n

3-Point Shooting Percentage<\/p>\n

Luguentz Dort<\/p>\n

2.1<\/p>\n

6.1<\/p>\n

34.3%<\/p>\n

Alex Caruso<\/p>\n

1.6<\/p>\n

3.9<\/p>\n

41.1%<\/p>\n

Jalen Williams<\/p>\n

1.5<\/p>\n

5.0<\/p>\n

30.4%<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/p>\n

1.4<\/p>\n

4.9<\/p>\n

28.3%<\/p>\n

Chet Holmgren<\/p>\n

1.2<\/p>\n

4.0<\/p>\n

29.7%<\/p>\n

Aaron Wiggins<\/p>\n

1.1<\/p>\n

3.1<\/p>\n

36.2%<\/p>\n

Isaiah Joe<\/p>\n

1.1<\/p>\n

2.7<\/p>\n

41.1%<\/p>\n

Cason Wallace<\/p>\n

0.9<\/p>\n

2.7<\/p>\n

32.3%<\/p>\n

The Thunder’s three best players ultimately caused its 3-point nightmare. Jalen Williams (30.4%), Chet Holmgren (29.7%) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28.3%) each regressed at least 6.1% from their regular-season percentages \u2014 a major, major problem because of their shot distribution.<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren were Oklahoma City’s three leading scorers \u2014 in that order \u2014 during the 2023-24 regular season<\/a>, 2024 playoffs<\/a>, 2024-25 regular season<\/a> and 2025 playoffs<\/a>. The Thunder has skyrocketed to unthinkable heights with that hierarchy.<\/p>\n

However, they registered the worst playoff 3-point volume AND percentage among the last 10 championship trios.<\/p>\n

Champion<\/p>\n

Three Leading Scorers<\/p>\n

Combined Playoff 3-Point Attempts (Per Game)<\/p>\n

Combined Playoff 3-Point Percentage<\/p>\n

2015-16 CLE<\/p>\n

LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love<\/p>\n

321 (15.3)<\/p>\n

40.2%<\/p>\n

2016-17 GSW<\/p>\n

Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson<\/p>\n

364 (21.4)<\/p>\n

41.5%<\/p>\n

2017-18 GSW<\/p>\n

Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry<\/p>\n

457 (21.8)<\/p>\n

38.9%<\/p>\n

2018-19 TOR<\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry<\/p>\n

394 (16.4)<\/p>\n

34.5%<\/p>\n

2019-20 LAL<\/p>\n

Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope<\/p>\n

298 (14.2)<\/p>\n

37.6%<\/p>\n

2020-21 MIL<\/p>\n

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday<\/p>\n

387 (16.8)<\/p>\n

30.0%<\/p>\n

2021-22 GSW<\/p>\n

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole<\/p>\n

557 (25.3)<\/p>\n

39.1%<\/p>\n

2022-23 DEN<\/p>\n

Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr.<\/p>\n

356 (17.8)<\/p>\n

39.3%<\/p>\n

2023-24 BOS<\/p>\n

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White<\/p>\n

409 (21.5)<\/p>\n

34.2%<\/p>\n

2024-25 OKC<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren<\/p>\n

319 (13.9)<\/p>\n

29.5%<\/p>\n

The 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers, the previous volume low, tallied elite restricted-area volume and efficiency thanks to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. That also applied to the 2020-21 Bucks, the previous efficiency low. They possessed a game-breaker, but non-shooter, Giannis Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

To sum things up, the Thunder’s three leading scorers posted the third-worst rim percentage<\/a>, fourth-worst mid-range percentage<\/a> and worst 3-point percentage in the last decade.<\/p>\n

Effective field goal percentage is an efficiency metric that weights 3-pointers correctly, as made threes are worth 50% more than made twos. The formula<\/a>: (FGM + 0.5 * 3PM) \/ FGA.<\/p>\n

Throughout the 2025 playoffs, teams thrived in the restricted area (65.2% effective field goal percentage), shot 3-pointers well (53.1%) and settled for mid-range shots last (42.6%).<\/p>\n

Eight of the last 10 championship trios recorded a playoff effective field goal percentage above the seasonal league average. Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren, who together averaged 50.5 points from the field, were a whopping 3.0% below average. They were the last decade’s only threesome who did not eclipse one point per shot attempt.<\/p>\n

Champion<\/p>\n

Three Leading Scorers<\/p>\n

Combined Field Goal Attempts (Per Game)<\/p>\n

Combined Effective Field Goal Percentage (Relative to League Average)<\/p>\n

2015-16 CLE<\/p>\n

LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love<\/p>\n

1,079 (51.4)<\/p>\n

53.4% (+3.9%)<\/p>\n

2016-17 GSW<\/p>\n

Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson<\/p>\n

817 (48.1)<\/p>\n

53.9% (+1.6%)<\/p>\n

2017-18 GSW<\/p>\n

Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry<\/p>\n

1,081 (51.5)<\/p>\n

55.2% (+3.4%)<\/p>\n

2018-19 TOR<\/p>\n

Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry<\/p>\n

1,156 (48.2)<\/p>\n

53.0% (+2.2%)<\/p>\n

2019-20 LAL<\/p>\n

Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope<\/p>\n

930 (44.3)<\/p>\n

59.6% (+6.2%)<\/p>\n

2020-21 MIL<\/p>\n

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday<\/p>\n

1,280 (55.7)<\/p>\n

51.9% (-1.5%)<\/p>\n

2021-22 GSW<\/p>\n

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole<\/p>\n

1,062 (48.3)<\/p>\n

56.3% (+3.4%)<\/p>\n

2022-23 DEN<\/p>\n

Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr.<\/p>\n

1,058 (52.9)<\/p>\n

55.8% (+2.8%)<\/p>\n

2023-24 BOS<\/p>\n

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White<\/p>\n

952 (50.1)<\/p>\n

53.9% (+0.7%)<\/p>\n

2024-25 OKC<\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren<\/p>\n

1,166 (50.7)<\/p>\n

49.8% (-3.0%)<\/p>\n

Oklahoma City suffered just two last-second home losses, never lost back-to-back playoff games and won the championship despite woeful team shooting from downtown and horrific field-goal efficiency from its stars.<\/p>\n

Time will tell whether the Thunder’s poor playoff 3-point percentage is a feature of the defense-slanted lineups or a bug with viable pathways to improvement.<\/p>\n

Want to join the discussion? Like\u00a0Thunder on SI<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook and\u00a0follow us on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also\u00a0meet the team<\/a>\u00a0behind the coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder churned out 2-point baskets throughout its championship run. The Thunder showed off elite…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-158288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}