After their crushing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers back on March 4, the OKC Thunder find themselves amid a three-game winning streak following their recent 31-point drubbing of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Now, heading into Tuesday night, they'll be looking to extend this stretch of success to four straight with a home tilt against the Indiana Pacers.
One of the more up-tempo teams in the entire association, as they rank second in pace of play (102.48), Indy certainly presents a greater challenge to Oklahoma City than perhaps some of the previous opponents during their recent surge.
Despite this reality, however, Thunder two-guard Isaiah Joe has gone on record noting that the club's mentality and overall approach remain the same as they approach their 7 PM (CT) tip-off.
Isaiah Joe dishes on Thunder mentality ahead of matchup vs Pacers
"Don't get caught up in their pace. I think we have to really keen in on the fact that they like to get transition buckets but we can't let that make us play faster than what we want to play or deter our game plan. We have to stay focused on what we have to do."Isaiah Joe
❝We have to stay focused on what we have to do.❞@zai_joe1 and @NickAGallo discuss the gameplan ahead of tonight's 7PM game at @PaycomCenter 🎤 pic.twitter.com/1AKCzXilCl
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 12, 2024
This matchup will mark the first time the Thunder and Pacers will be squaring off against one another this season. In 2022-23, they split their season series at one game apiece, with their final meeting coming in March of last year where Rick Carlisle's squad bested Oklahoma City by a final score of 121-117.
In many ways, this face-off could be viewed as a revenge game of sorts for OKC, and, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's historic production, fans should feel confident in their ability to stretch their streak to four straight wins.
As Joe suggested, if the Thunder play their game rather than adjusting to Indiana's, they should be just fine.