OKLAHOMA CITY — Each section of the Paycom Center draped in alternating blue and white giveaway T-shirts, an unrelenting crowd reached a fever pitch midway through Tuesday night’s third quarter. The top-seeded Thunder erupted in the second half of their second-round clash with the Mavericks, splashing a flurry of 3-pointers from all around the white-painted arc en route to a 117-95 Game 1 victory over Dallas.
The pattern should be expected at this point. OKC paced the entire NBA in outside shooting (38.9%) throughout the regular season, a key part of the Thunder’s climb atop the Western Conference standings — despite Oklahoma City rostering the youngest group to ever claim the first seed in NBA history.