OKC’s Big 3 of Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George each put up decent numbers in limited minutes as the Thunder closed out the preseason with a 96-86 win over the Nuggets on Tuesday night. Westbrook made 9-of-13 shots for 20 points to go with 7 dimes and 1 Nokic shove. Paul George had 19 points on 19 shots to go with 11 boards, a game-high 5 steals and 4 assists. Carmelo was instant offense, scoring 16 points in 16 minutes and grabbing 9 boards of his own.
The big pleasant surprise of the night was the play of Josh Huestis, who was the clutch shot-blocking hero in the Thunder’s last game.
The third-year small forward out of Stanford failed to block any Nuggets in 22 minutes of action off the bench but did score 15 points (his total in his previous 3 games) on 5-of-14 shooting. 4 of his 5 made shots were threes and 4 threes is 2 less than the total amount of threes he made this preseason and last combined.
Neither GD or Free Dawkins made a YouTube mix of the performance so you are just going to have to go through the full highlights of the game for his threes.
If you are shocked by his production in limited minutes, you shouldn’t….it’s preseason! Besides it being preseason, the late first round pick of the Thunder in 2015 showed last season he could put up numbers when given playing time. In his two games last season, the first was a 7 point, 4 rebound performance in just 7 minutes and the other was a roto-friendly 7 points, 5 boards, 3 blocks, 2 steals and a three in 24 minutes.
He also put up some big numbers (26 points on 11-17 shots) during this past Summer League and has shown he has poster making potential during his time in the D-League.
I’m not saying these clips and stats means Melo is going to pass him the ball this season but I think Huestis is earning minutes with his ability to volleyball spike shots and knock down threes Roberson might airball. Let’s just say, if Huestis is taking a three, Chris Paul wont be yelling “Hell naw!”
Here’s a few more clips of some of Huestis’ best performances in the D-League (I’m not calling it the G-League).