Sixers Rookie Isaiah Joe Dominates in NBA G League Playoff Debut

A couple of weeks ago, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers teased the idea of giving second-round rookie Isaiah Joe some consistent playing time in the Sixers' regular rotation. The idea was to have Joe replace some of Furkan Korkmaz's minutes as the veteran sharpshooter struggled.

But then Rivers reversed course. Not only did he continue to roll with Korkmaz, but the Sixers decided to send Joe to Orlando, Florida, to participate in the G League bubble. No, Joe didn't get demoted due to poor play or anything. Instead, Doc Rivers made it clear that a young player such as Joe shouldn't need an All-Star break.

Instead, the Sixers wanted Joe to continue to get minutes during the downtime. So, Joe made his G League debut late last week. After spending some time on the Sixers' bench and in quarantine in Florida, Joe came out rusty for the Delaware Blue Coats this past Friday night as he shot just 2-for-14 from the field for five points.

On Saturday, he bounced back with a 12-point game against the Memphis Hustle. Then on Monday, Joe and the Blue Coats participated in the G League franchise's first-ever playoff game as they faced the Austin Spurs in a do-or-die matchup.

The Sixers rookie picked up a team-high of 34 minutes of playing time in Monday's postseason matchup. As usual, Joe was fearless with his shot as he attempted 18 field goals, 15 of which were from beyond-the-arc.

The young rookie managed to knock down seven of his three-point shots and collected an overall team-high of 28 points, outshining the usual standout suspects' Paul Reed and Rayjon Tucker, who had solid outings of their own on Monday night.

With Joe's big night, the Blue Coats managed to dominate the Spurs 124-103, picking up their first playoff win in team history. Now, Delaware looks ahead for a quick turnaround as they're set to face the Raptors 905 at 9:15 PM EST for the G League Semi-Finals.

The last time these two teams squared off, the Raptors got the best of the Coats as Delaware struggled to overcome a 138-point outing by only putting up 107 points of their own. Perhaps, the rookie Isaiah Joe can help Delaware come away with a much different outcome on Tuesday night.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.

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