Shot selection under the microscope again

It was supposed to be a bounceback game for the Thunder in Dallas, but no game can be considered such in OKC's disjointed start to the season on offense.

It starts with shot selection. Raymond Felton has exceeded expectations thus far this season as the Thunder’s second-unit point guard, but he’s shooting 39.3 percent for his career from 16 feet or longer. He started a runaway second quarter for the Mavs with a long two-point jump shot without a pass. Carmelo Anthony caught and shot a step inside the 3-point line with a hand in his face, without hesitation.

Those misses are seemingly insignificant shots within the context of an entire game, but they add up. When the Thunder's trend of poor shot selection results in a flurry of misses, it torpedoes the OKC offense quickly.

“When you’re not getting to the free-throw line and you’re not taking or making a high number of 3s, sometimes those non-paint twos become a little bit more glaring,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “If you’re in the non-paint-two range and you’re getting fouled, it kind of offsets it a little bit. But because of our lack of free-throw shooting, sometimes it becomes a lot more glaring.”

Hence the problem. The Mavericks were content with letting the Thunder shoot long twos, and the Thunder kept taking them instead of attacking.

While lack of free throws shot draws atten-