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The feel of warming up but no time is given. Thunder s way of using people is really inexplicable?

3:01pm, 13 June 2025【Basketball】

In a previous NBA Finals G3 game, the Indiana Pacers, who returned to their home court, rebounded strongly, and they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107. After this game, the Pacers widened the total score of this series to 2-1, regaining the advantage in this series.

In this game, the Thunder's substitute backcourt pitcher Isaiah Joe actually performed well. Qiao played 4 minutes and 13 seconds in the game, made 2 of 2 shots, 2 of 2 from outside the three-point line, scored 6 points, and had 2 fouls, with a plus-negative value of 0. Qiao's playing time and shooting times in the game were actually very limited, but he still seized the opportunity and hit two three-pointers to help the team continue to feel on the offensive end. Qiao did not have any major problems in other aspects, and it was considered a normal level. Unfortunately, Qiao lost the opportunity to play in the second half and sat on the bench. Even if the team encounters huge trouble on the offensive end, and even if the vast majority of the team's players feel unsatisfactory, Joe still cannot get a chance to play in this situation, which is a speechless thing.

In the NBA regular season this season, Joe played 74 games in 82 games, averaging 21.7 minutes per game, averaging 10.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.1 blocks, and 0.5 turnovers and 1.5 fouls. He shot 44% from the field, 41.2% from three-point shooting percentage and 82.1% from free throws. In the playoffs, Joe averaged 10.1 minutes in his first 19 games, with averaging 5.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.1 blocks, 0.3 turnovers and 0.5 fouls, shooting percentage of 48.5%, three-point shooting percentage of 40.4%, and free throw shooting percentage of 81.8%.

We really don't understand Thunder's use of Joe. Joe's performance in the playoffs was not stable. In this case, the Thunder have two choices, either give him more trust and try to help him regain his feel, or reduce his playing time, or even move him out of the rotation lineup. However, the Thunder chose the most incomprehensible way of using people, which is to give Joe an unstable playing time in every game. Qiao felt bad before, and his playing time was more than when he felt good in this game, which was completely incomprehensible. This seems to have no benefit to both Thunder and Qiao. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault sometimes gives people a sense of inexplicable feeling. When the finals start, it is a stage for you to train your lineup to conduct experiments?