Thunder guard Isaiah Joe is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA, but the 26-year-old contributes to winning in other ways as well, per Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
Joe lit up the Cavaliers on Sunday, tying his season high with 22 points and converting six of his 11 looks from behind the arc. But he also had a career-high five steals, plus three assists and two rebounds in 30 minutes.
“From a young age, I’ve always taken pride in it,” Joe said of his defense. “Being undersized out there, you don’t want to be the weak link. With this team that we have, we have tremendous defenders. We can almost live and die on our defense every single game. So whenever I’m out there I just try to stay physical, make the right rotations, take charges and try to win on the defensive end.”
As Martinez writes, Joe is an adept off-ball mover and cutter on top of being an unselfish passer. Fellow guard Cason Wallace, who had his first career double-double Sunday (20 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, three steals), praised Joe’s all-around game.
“He’s a great cutter,” Wallace said. “If you overplay him, he’s very smart. He’ll back-cut you and finish at the rim. He’s a high-level rebounder. He has a full game, for sure.”
We have more from Oklahoma City:
- Head coach Mark Daigneault praised Joe after the game, according to Martinez (Twitter video link). As Martinez notes, Joe is averaging 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 50.8% from long distance in nine February games (26.4 MPG) amid injuries to several key players. “He’s been unbelievable,” Daigneault said of the former second-round pick. “We’ve obviously endured injuries but also the fluidity of those injuries. It hasn’t been the same people out that have allowed us to get into a team rhythm. It’s just been a weird situation where the minute we get one guy back, another has gone out. He has been a stabilizing force.”
- The Thunder were playing without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso and Ajay Mitchell on Sunday, yet they outplayed the Cavs, who entered the game having won seven straight games and 12 of their past 13. OKC’s shorthanded victory over Cleveland is one reason why the NBA should re-think it’s marketing strategy and focus more on the depth of talent across the league and on the best teams rather than just star players, says Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “I think we do discredit ‘team,’” Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell said. “This wasn’t a situation where we were like, ‘all right, we’re going to come in here (and dominate, because of OKC’s injuries).’ They’re a championship-level team. But I do think you see that, no SGA, no J-Dub, as fans, not as us (the Cavs), and you do think, ‘oh, it should just be a (cakewalk).’ You know what I mean? These guys can go. They can play. We’ve seen that. This league is very talented.”
- All-Star big man Chet Holmgren is questionable for Tuesday’s game against Toronto because of lower back spasms, tweets Clemente Almanza of Thunder Wire. Caruso (left ankle sprain) is also questionable.
- After his second NBA game on Friday, Nikola Topic reflected his difficult road back to the court, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. The 20-year-old Serbian guard recovered from a torn ACL only to be diagnosed with testicular cancer in the fall. “I have to thank the organization as a whole, from the players and coaching staff to the medical team,” Topic said. “They were incredibly supportive throughout the entire process. And, of course, the fans as well.” Topic received a standing ovation in his first home game. “I’ll remember that for the rest of my life, and I’ll try to kind of say thank you on the court,” he added.
Like every Thunder player, Joe is an egregious flopper.
Annoying to watch.