Diverting ever-so-slightly from their normal, drive-heavy gameplan, Isaiah Joe and the Oklahoma City Thunder entered halftime’s tunnel with both an unusually-high 31 3-point attempts, and one question about if they would “scale back” and attack the rim going forward. As fate would have it, they would, in fact, scale it back — but certainly not in a way the Dallas Mavericks would’ve liked. Mindful of Dallas’ comeback abilities following last spring’s postseason, Joe begins a memorable sequence by keeping aggressive in crashing the glass during a teammate’s end-of-quarter scoring attempt. Soon finding a teammate’s diving tap pass bouncing fortuitously his way during the final three seconds, Joe balances into a buzzer-beating 28-foot heave, breathing additional life into Oklahoma City’s already-electric arena. Through a recipe that included 50 3-point attempts and 19 turnovers forced, the Thunder eventually stamped their ticket into the NBA Cup Semifinals. Guiding the Thunder’s second unit, Joe finished with nine points, three rebounds, three assists, and three 3-pointers. · Dec 11, 2024