On the morning of October 30th, the OKC Thunder were 5-0 and were set to play the Washington Wizards. Everything seemed to be going right except for one glaring statistic -- They could not hit anything from downtown.
With Isaiah Joe's return from injury on the horizon, they ranked second to last in three-point shooting at 28.8 percent.
Thunder fans had seen this trend pop up in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, as the ball club shot just 33.8 percent from deep on the road to their first championship.
Fast forward to December 10, and Oklahoma City's record looks like more of the same: 23 wins of pure dominance and just one surprise loss over a month back.
The formula has looked a lot different over that month, though.
Oklahoma City now ranks sixth in three-point shooting, a massive turnaround from a team that once looked inept from deep.
Since late October, they have shot 39.8 percent from three, which is third in the NBA during that timespan.
Thunder have leveled up to turn perimeter shooting into key strength
Isaiah Joe returning from injury back in late October definitely gave OKC a boost, as he has shot 41.9 percent from three, but that is not the only reason why the Thunder have been able to shoot with any team they face.
Other role players have come off the bench to light fireworks around the perimeter. Aaron Wiggins is shooting a torrid 43.4 percent, and Cason Wallace is shooting 37.9 percent, up from 35.6 percent last year.
Kenrich Williams, in his small sample size since returning from injury (six games) is shooting a ridiculous 54.5 percent from long range.
Sharpshooting movement has been spearheaded by Thunder superstar
Arguably, the biggest three-point surprise has been superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Never considered a true threat from deep before, Shai has been working diligently to erase that reputation.
Since the 2021-22 season, the point guard has seen his three-point numbers increase every year.
Last year, in particular, it was obvious he had spent considerable time working on his range, as he averaged a career high in both three-point percentage (37.5) and three-pointers attempted (5.7), excluding his injury-shortened season in 2020-2021.
This year, he is looking like one of the best three-point shooters in the league.
He is averaging more threes on fewer attempts than last year, and is shooting 44.3 percent from long range. Over the last 30 days, he has shot 53.4 percent, which leads the league among all full-time players who have played more than seven games over that span.
The Thunder were already looking like the early favorite for this year's Larry O'Brien trophy, but their recent shooting spree is making them look utterly unbeatable.
With lockdown defense, excellent passing, and now lights-out shooting, the Thunder clearly are continuing to add to their bag of tricks, and they have every other team in the league scrambling for answers.