NEW ORLEANS — The behind-the-back bounce pass move has yet to be added to the NBA 2K franchise.
No amount of button mashing and stick spinning will allow a player to pull that off. But Isaiah Joe has it in his game, and he broke it out midway through the first quarter of OKC’s 126-109 win over New Orleans on Monday.
The sharpshooting guard lost Trey Murphy III with a pump fake behind the 3-point line before he drove to the rim. And when Karlo Matković stepped up to stop him, Joe skipped the ball to a cutting Isaiah Hartenstein for a two-handed dunk.
OKC continued to put up video game numbers. It claimed a 49-24 lead at the end of the first quarter, setting a franchise record for points scored in any quarter. That was previously set when it scored 48 points in the third quarter of a 150-117 home win over Boston on Jan. 3, 2023.
OKC never relinquished the lead after its dominant start. It secured the wire-to-wire victory to improve to 14-1 on the season.
“Just great focus and preparation to start the game that way,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “On both ends of the floor, I thought we were just really dialed in. We drifted in and out of our best basketball tonight, but we certainly played our best basketball early and to start the third (quarter) as well.”
Here are three takeaways from the win:
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Jeremiah Fears, Pelicans responded well to early deficit
When he’s on the court, Lu Dort is the meanest Canadian you’ll find.
He has the physical mindset of a Montreal Canadiens hockey player. He boasts the strength of an Alaska-Yukon moose. He enforces law and order like a Mountie.
But none of that deterred former OU star Jeremiah Fears from attacking the All-Defensive first team guard late in the second quarter. And after bouncing off of Dort, Fears sank a tough and-one layup.
Most players would’ve flexed their muscles after a play like that, but Fears simply dapped up his teammates with a blank expression on his face. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard took an understated approach, which is fitting for his under-the-radar strength.
After trailing by 25 points at the end of the first quarter, New Orleans chipped away at the steep deficit. It outscored OKC 32-20 in the second quarter thanks in large part to Fears, who recorded 12 points by halftime. Two of his buckets were physical and-one layups over Dort.
And even though New Orleans ultimately fell well short of a comeback, Fears delivered an impressive performance. He finished with 24 points and one assist on 9-for-16 shooting from the field (2 for 5 from deep) in only 25 minutes.
“Good young player who has a bright future,” Daigneault said of Fears. “He’s going to have a lot of opportunities to develop. … There’s a boldness to the way he plays. He obviously can score and get to places on the court.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept his 20-point streak alive
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander practiced his shooting motion three times while he waited for the referee to give him the ball.
He wanted to make sure he was ready for his second free-throw attempt, which had much more than a single point on the line.
It would’ve marked Gilgeous-Alexander’s 20th point of the night, extending his streak of 20-point performances in the regular season to 87 games. That has only been bested by Wilt Chamberlain, who had two streaks of 126 games and 92 games.
Time was running out on Gilgeous-Alexander to do so. There was only 1:52 left in the third quarter, and a fourth-quarter appearance seemed unlikely for the superstar guard since his team held a 24-point lead.
But the pressure didn’t seem to weigh heavily on Gilgeous-Alexander, who took a deep breath with ease and exhaled once the referee gave him the ball. He then calmly knocked down the shot.
That kept the streak alive for Gilgeous-Alexander, who added one more 3-pointer before the end of the quarter. He finished with 23 points and eight assists in 29 minutes, and he didn’t play in the fourth quarter for the ninth time this season.
The 3-point shot finally dropped for Lu Dort
Dort is used to waiting a while for his shot to drop. That happens when you shoot rainbow 3-pointers that scrape the rafters.
But Dort’s shot took even longer than usual to drop to start this season. He entered the game shooting 21.1% from deep, which was nearly half of his career-high percentage from last season (41.2%).
It finally dropped on Monday, though. Dort erupted for 17 points on 4-for-6 shooting from deep. He also added one assist and one steal in 28 minutes.
“Obviously, they were open shots, some of them,” Dort said. “To see a couple of them go in is only what I need. I was just aggressive. (My teammates) were finding me, and I made a couple early.”
Tip-insChet Holmgren finished with 26 points and nine rebounds on 10-for-14 shooting from the field (3 for 6 from deep). He has scored at least 20 points in four of his last five outings.Alex Caruso was listed as available after exiting OKC’s win over Charlotte on Saturday due to right hand soreness, but he didn’t play Monday against New Orleans.OKC held a 49-24 lead over New Orleans at the end of the first quarter. In addition to setting the franchise record for points scored in any quarter, the Thunder also set a franchise record for a first-quarter margin (25).
Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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TIPOFF: 7 p.m. Wednesday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City (FanDuel Sports Network)