Isaiah Joe Must Capitalize on Last Chance at Playoff Impact

Oklahoma City has gotten its money’s worth and much more in the second round against Denver. Now, the team is staring down a Game 7 — the biggest home game in over a decade for this young squad. On Sunday afternoon, the franchise will be transformed one way or another.

The best part about the Thunder’s rotation, is that there are so many different players who could step up on any given night. Oklahoma City has had a handful of impressive performances from unlikely heroes, including Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso. Jaylin Williams has left a mark on many games, too.

One player that is battling the crowded rotation and looking for a way to make an impact, too, is Isaiah Joe — Oklahoma City’s sharpshooter. Make no mistake, though, his quiet performances hold no weight — Joe is the type of player who could change the game on any given night.

With Denver’s zone, Oklahoma City has struggled to spread the ball out and score. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been limited, and the Thunder’s offense has looked pretty clunky. Joe has gotten a few minutes here and there, but he hasn’t gotten his regular share. He hasn’t been able to get in a rhythm — even though it would seemingly help against Denver’s vulnerable zone.

Joe has only played over 13 minutes against Denver once throughout the entire series — his role has been extremely limited. The only time he logged more than 13 minutes was Oklahoma City’s dominant Game 2 performance, where he added 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting.

In the playoffs, legendary performances are born. Isaiah Joe is Oklahoma City’s only specialty outside shooter — of course a plethora of players could get hot from the 3-points line, but Joe is easily the most dangerous of the group. He averaged 10.2 points per game on 41.2% from 3-point range, and even though those numbers have fallen off in the postseason, that player is still in there somewhere.

With Sunday afternoon being an elimination game for the Thunder, it’s now or never for Joe. He can leave his mark on this year’s playoffs and be a legend forever with a big performance on Sunday. If he gets the minutes, the opportunity will be huge.

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