Isaiah Joe Holds OKC Thunder’s Answer For Cracking the Zone Defense

The Thunder will need its sharpshooter in the postseason against niche defenses set to stop the Thunder.

Feb 24, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) shoots a three point basket beside Minnesota Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham (4) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City has been under fire over the last few days after dropping a heartbreaker in Minnesota. Obviously, the only thing the Thunder took away from this loss was lessons — with a 46-11 overall record, it would be silly to micro-analyze a singular regular season loss. It’s the nature of that loss that has fans in question, though.

The fourth quarter of the Thunder Wolves game seemed eerily similar to Oklahoma City’s playoff exit against the Mavericks a season ago. All season long, the NBA community wondered if the Thunder would look to add depth to its front court or extra ammo in the rotation, but the Thunder stuck to its script. Some of the series defeat can be explained by shooting variance, sure, but the Thunder’s lack of a second center and other playmakers was evident.

On Monday night in Minnesota, the game played out in a similar manner. Chet Holmgren was out resting and Isaiah Hartenstein went down midway through the contest. Suddenly, OKC was back to its small ball ways. And then, once again, the shots ran dry for the team’s reliable role players. Oklahoma City missed 15 straight threes to end the game — and nearly all of those looks were wide open. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did all he could with a 39-point effort, but the extra passes late were to no avail. His kick outs to wide open shooters ended in empty trips — just like the postseason. 

This certainly isn’t indicative of the new norm for the Thunder. It was a one-off game without any big men and an unusual late shooting slump. The Thunder addressed last season’s problems by adding Hartenstein and Alex Caruso, but the role players can’t fall flat again for the operation to work this time around.

The Timberwolves keyed in on Gilgeous-Alexander, trying to force the Thunder’s role players to step up. Just like the postseason, nobody could hit a shot. One of the Thunder’s most reliable shooters didn’t even get a chance, though.

Isaiah Joe played to start the first quarter, knocked down a triple, and then rode the bench for the remainder of the game. Of course, the Thunder’s coaching staff has been terrific with rotations all season long, but finding a way to get Joe a few shots when everything went south could’ve been smart. Joe and Gilgeous-Alexander have always had top notch chemistry, and Joe spaces the floor.

On ESPN, Brian Windhorst alluded to teams mirroring Minnesota’s strategy — take away Gilgeous-Alexander and zone the shooters. If that’s the case moving forward, Isaiah Joe needs to be a priority for the Thunder. He can float around the 3-point line, flash in the high post, and ultimately, make his money from the wings. Oklahoma City’s high post touches ended in wide open looks, but Joe wasn’t in to knock them down.

He only played 18 minutes, but Joe still racked up nine points on 3-of-6 from 3-point range. When he has been on the floor this season, it has been an impossible task to zone up the Thunder. Joe is averaging 9.6 points per game on 40.0% from 3-point range while shooting 6.1 triples. He is Oklahoma City’s volume sharpshooter, and when the shooting dries up, he can be the difference maker.

Joe didn’t have a chance to impact the game down the stretch against Minnesota, but that won’t always be the case. His time will come. Joe can be the answer for the Thunder against opposing zones.

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