Thunder’s Isaiah Joe “Most Definitely” Wants To Participate in 3-Point Contest

Isaiah Joe has been a pleasant surprise for the Thunder all season long, and could turn heads in Salt Lake City too.

Oklahoma City extended it’s winning streak to four on Wednesday night, earning an emphatic 126-106 win over Indiana.

The Thunder dominated the contest from start to finish and played like the better team. This young team is finally starting realize both the talent and potential in the locker room, and the growing confidence is showing on the court. With confidence, the team seems to be developing strong chemistry too.

Oklahoma City has a number of creative ball handlers to initiate the offense, and with the roster starting to soar, those ball handlers are picking up on the team's tendencies. Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seem to be developing an effective give-and-go game, while Jalen Williams is utilizing his back door cuts to make a big impact.

The Thunder’s guards now make it a priority to find Isaiah Joe on the perimeter, too. They seem to pick up on things like which way he’ll turn off a screen or where he’s most comfortable shooting the ball from. It’s working, and it’s winning the Thunder games. Oklahoma City desperately needed a shooter to step up this season and Joe is doing just that.

Wednesday night, he finished the game with 23 points on 7-of-12 from 3-point range. Joe’s ability to change the game from the outside has added another dimension to this Thunder team.

After the outburst of triples, Joe is up to 44.4% from behind the 3-point line this season. When asked by Rylan Stiles after the game if he’d be interested in the 3-point contest during All-Star weekend, his answer was firm.

"Most definitely, I would not pass that up."

-Isaiah Joe on the NBA All-Star 3-Point Contest

Your move, @NBAAllStar 👀 pic.twitter.com/GMBqOELTUI

— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) January 19, 2023

Oklahoma City signed Joe this off-season after he began his career in Philadelphia. He might not be the biggest name in the participant pool, but if he gets a shot, don’t be surprised if he takes home the hardware.

I asked Isaiah Joe if he would want to compete in the 3 point contest “most definitely” I asked if he’d come in confident like Larry Bird telling his opposition he is going to win it “I wouldn’t be in it to do anything else”

— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) January 19, 2023

Joe is a confident shooter that is developing chemistry with Giddey and Gilgeous-Alexander. His ascension has given the Thunder an unexpected boost this season, and is contributing to the play-in push. Oklahoma City’s sharpshooter getting the 3-point contest nod would be a sight to see, and Joe is seemingly all in.

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