Jerami Grant was one of the Thunder’s most consistent scorers during the regular season. You could pretty much guarantee 15-20 points per game for the young forward. It’s no surprise to see the Thunder’s offense struggle when they are missing a lot of offense from one of their key starters. Here at Heartland Sports we wrote multiple articles about how big of a key Grant would be in the playoffs. After two playoff games where he was essentially a non-factor, what has happened to his consistent scoring?
Jerami Grant's disappearance has been a massive factor for OKC. He was someone they could count on for 15-18 points and a couple 3s a game. He's 0-5 and 0-4 from 3 so far.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) April 17, 2019
Through two games of this potential seven game series with Portland, Grant has only scored 13 points on 3-15 from the field. He is also a combined 0-9 from beyond the arc. Grant had the best three point shooting percentage during the regular season, so why has he fallen off the map in this series?
I think a lot of it has to do with his lack of experience. Sure, Grant played in the post-season a year ago, but his role was much smaller at that time. He played about twelve minutes less per game last season than he does this year. He also came off the bench and played with little to no pressure with the second unit.
The Thunder will have their chance to protect home court on Friday and Sunday. I think these two games are exactly what he needs to get into a rhythm. Playing in OKC should take off a big load of pressure. If I was Billy Donovan, I’d make sure Grant is getting plenty of opportunities to shoot the basketball. If the Thunder can regain the confidence of Jerami Grant, he could be a huge factor in Oklahoma City coming back in this series.
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