The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the midst of a four game win streak that continued with a victory against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Cup on Tuesday night.
Part of OKC's success has come at the hands of sharpshooter Isaiah Joe, who has had three solid performances in the past four games to help open Mark Daigneault's offense. Since the Thunder's loss to the Houston Rockets on Dec. 1, Joe has connected on at least three triples three different times.
In a win against the Utah Jazz, Joe hit five 3-pointers and tallied 19 points, followed by an 18-point outing against the Toronto Raptors that saw the Arkansas product knock down four shots from beyond the arc.
Joe went 0-for-2 from the field against the New Orleans Pelicans, but knocked down three more triples in Tuesday night's win against Luka Doncic and company. Daigneault's offense relies heavily on spacing the floor, and the unit plays best when someone is consistently a threat to knock down shots from deep.
Joe's 3-point shooting prowess also helps open lanes for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and other teammates to drive to the paint. Defenders respect Joe's shot, and even on an off night, players will still hustle to the arc to contest one of the sharpshooter's attempts.
Hustlin' til the buzzer 🚨 pic.twitter.com/jqKhce6GuT
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) December 11, 2024
From Nov. 11-Dec. 1, Joe connected on three or more triples just two times, both resulting in victories. In fact, three of OKC's five losses this season have come in contests where Joe has been inactive or hit less than three shots from beyond the arc.
Joe has played 22 games and made nine starts this season, averaging 9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 41.2% from the field and 38.2% from beyond the arc on more than six attempts per game.
If the fifth-year wing can continue to knock down shots consistently, the Thunder should continue to be one of the Western Conference's most formidable opponents.
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