Thunder All Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ‘too good’ look at Isaiah Joe’s shot

All-Star Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderIsaiah Joe, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New York Knicks for the second time in a week. After Aaron Wiggins’ late game shot topped the Knicks in a 117-107 home win, Joe’s eight 3-pointers and Gilgeous-Alexander’s 39-point performance kept New York at bay in a 126-101 victory Friday at Madison Square Garden.

Joe’s eight three-pointers set a new career high — Giljus-Alexander and Joe (31 points) combined for 70 of the Thunder’s 126 points. After the win, Gilgeous-Alexander discussed Joe’s impressive shooting performance.

“Averages are always averages,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It will be average. Percentages are always averages. He’s an incredible scorer and he’s been in a bit of a slump. A little longer than he’d like, but he’s too good a marksman mechanically, confidently, with touch; he will figure it out. He will balance it out.”

Joe went 2-for-6 (eight points) against the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 129-122 loss, snapping the Thunder’s eight-game winning streak. Still, that didn’t limit Isaiah in his relentless approach, which saw Oklahoma City’s backup guard drain a 3-pointer less than ten seconds after checking into Friday’s game.

“If you have a bad game, it’s going to balance out somewhere else,” Gilgeus-Alexander added. “You’ve put in enough work over the summer so far where you’re the best shooter, 45 percent shooter in the NBA, and you’ve got 20 shots this month.” Next month you will shoot 60. That’s exactly what I think and believe because the work is invested. And if you remain faithful to him, you trust him; nights like tonight happen.”

Joe finished 11-for-16 shooting, including 8-of-11 from deep, two assists and one rebound in 30 minutes.

After the win, Thunder forward Jalen Williams, along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, talked about Joe’s work ethic.

“I’m not really with him in the summer, but the way he’s playing, you can tell he’s putting in the work,” Williams said. “He’s always in the gym.” He always gets hit. So the more you keep shooting when you’re such a good shooter, you’re going to have games like this where you kind of have a breakthrough.”

Marc Daigneault’s honest look at Isaiah Joe’s shot against the Knicks

Thunder guard Isaiah Joe’s career-best shooting performance didn’t surprise head coach Mark Daigneault. After the win, Daigneault revealed that he saw this one coming.

“We know he is capable of it.” “He’s had it before, and this season he hasn’t shot the ball the way he wanted to,” Daigneault said. “We were kind of waiting for this kind of game. At least I was. It was a matter of time. Big trust from him.”

The Thunder will face the Wizards on Sunday.