OKC Thunder 3 takeaways: Playing to identity marks winning efforts

With the Grizzlies victory, the OKC Thunder have won nine of their last 10 games. Takeaways note playing to the club’s defensive identity results in easier wins.

Oklahoma City played a very uncharacteristic style of play against Memphis. Out of 90 field goal attempts, 44 were from 3-point distance. The OKC Thunder did manage to hit 17 of those attempts for an acceptable 38.6 percent. Memphis clogged the paint and basically dared OKC to shoot from distance.

The low percentage shot selection allowed Memphis to stay in the game, even carrying a lead into halftime. The Thunder seemed to return to their identity in the third quarter by getting Steven Adams involved early as he finished the game…