Over the last three years, Oklahoma City has been a force when it comes to rebounds, leading the league in each season. As a result, the Thunder has been successful scoring in the paint. Because of their ability to rebound the ball effectively, it makes sense that they would be able to keep teams from scoring down low, but that has not been case.
For whatever reason, Oklahoma City was unable to stop opposing teams from getting easy buckets last season. Despite leading the league with 49.9 points in the paint per game, the Thunder allowed 47.5 points down low per game, which ranked them 29th.
After trading Serge Ibaka last summer, Oklahoma City lost some serious rim protection, and they were unable to consistently protect the paint the majority of the time. The acquisition of power forward Patrick Patterson will hopefully improve paint protection and help the Thunder move in the right direction defensively.
Article written by Zack Low. Follow @TheThunderGuys on Twitter and Instagram.