The Oklahoma City Thunder needed a spark.
Trailing the Dallas Mavericks by 16 points with roughly five minutes left in the game, it appeared that the Thunder mudded the game as much as they could before Dallas’ talent eventually took over and pulled away.
Then Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault went with an unconventional move of pulling Isaiah Joe off of his bench to see if his outside shooting could give the offense enough juice.
Joe — who wasn’t even on the Thunder roster to start preseason — played the final nine minutes of regulation and overtime and wrote himself into Thunder folklore with a 15-point performance that included going a perfect 4-of-4 from deep.
Daigneault has preached all season long about how there is no set rotation and that anybody could truly play on any given night. It’s an old coach cliche but Daigneault has walked the walk with that mindset so far. Saturday night was the peak of this as Joe came in late and helped lead the Thunder to an unlikely win.
The only way the Thunder had a shot to win this game was to force the Mavericks to play down to their level and force them to play an ugly brand of physical basketball.
It’s fair to say the Thunder were able to achieve this as the Maverick — who entered the night as the best offensive rating team in the league at 122.3 points scored per 100 possession — finished with 111 points and shot 40 percent from the field and 20 percent from three.
Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic scored 31 points, but it came on 8-of-23 shooting and 15-of-19 from the free-throw line.
With such an eventful and fun game, there are several players to hand out grades. Let’s take a look at four Thunder players who stuck out the most in the third win in as many games.
Isaiah Joe: A-plus
Normally, the top spot would be reserved for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and that could’ve been the case tonight with his 38 points, but the hero of the night easily goes to Joe.
After sitting on the bench for the first 43 minutes of the game, Daigneault called on Joe’s number and he more than delivered.
Joe’s stroke was as pure as ever as all three of his made three-pointers echoed on the broadcast with the Mavericks’ mic’d up rims. Joe finished with 15 points in nine minutes and was a plus-24.
The Thunder offense began to ran out of juice and Joe was able to refill the bottle with some quick points from outside.
Living downtown 💦 pic.twitter.com/4ANe1NzGpW
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 30, 2022
Isaiah Joe for three…AGAIN 👌 pic.twitter.com/9kVpcSqc6X
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 30, 2022
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
At this point, it’s getting a bit boring giving Gilgeous-Alexander straight A’s for all of his performances but it’s hard not to with games like these.
Despite driving in clogged lanes consistently, Gilgeous-Alexander continues to find ways to create space and make quality looks around the rim. Tonight, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 38 points on 15-of-27 shooting, nine assists and six rebounds.
Gilgeous-Alexander also continues to shoot a perfect 100% from the charity stripe in the season as he went 8-of-8.
Gilgeous-Alexander has now scored at least 28 points in four of his five games this season and it’s obvious he has taken that next step in stardom. It’s only a matter of time now before conventional wisdom catches up to reality once fans around the league start to notice what Gilgeous-Alexander is doing to their teams on a consistent basis.
Shai making plays on both ends of the floor 😤
📺 @BallySportsOK pic.twitter.com/pd6b5l742I
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 30, 2022
Thunder regain the lead with a 13-2 run! #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/OZXcpYnG97
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 30, 2022
Spinning friendly roll finish@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/TAlnss0uZb
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 30, 2022
Darius Bazley: B-plus
The highlight of the night for Darius Bazley came on the defensive side of the floor.
During the first quarter, after being isolated against Doncic, Bazley did not bite on any of the several moves the Mavs star tried to pull on him. Whether it was a shot fake or a pass fake, Bazley never bit the cheese and forced a bad one-handed shot that clanked off the rim.
Darius Bazley on Luka Doncic 👀 🔒@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/e9GM7PcdP0
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) October 30, 2022
This is what makes it so hard to give up on Bazley. As frustrating as he is with the ball in his hands, he’s equally amazing with it out of his hands.
Bazley finished the game with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting and eight rebounds in 26 minutes off of the bench.
Bazley’s future with the Thunder might be under jeopardy, that does not mean Bazley can’t stay in the league. He has shown plenty of defensive tape over the years that he is a capable, athletic, disciplined and smart defender who can make it tough on the opposition’s best scorers.
🅱ig 🅱aze 🅱lock pic.twitter.com/80xNqFBkpC
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 30, 2022
Baze throwing it down ➡️ Shai finishing with contact 😤 pic.twitter.com/DK50CjjerV
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 30, 2022
Jalen Williams: B-plus
This game marked the return — and essentially the real NBA debut — of Jalen Williams. The rookie wing was only able to play six minutes in the season opener before a Jaden McDaniels elbow to the eye fractured his orbital.
Williams — sporting a transparent mask — returned against the Mavericks and finished with 13 points, three assists, three rebounds and four steals in 27 minutes off of the bench.
Williams did all of his scoring inside the paint and was able to impress fans with his play on both sides of the floor.
locked in on D 😤 pic.twitter.com/7VWtF5XI7g
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 30, 2022
Electric connection ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/yyjk4Dr49H
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 30, 2022
