Isaiah Joe did it; guard’s play was the difference in Sixers’ summer league win over OKC Thunder, 80-79

SALT LAKE CITY — Isaiah Joe was the difference.

The shooting guard’s three-pointer with 25.2 seconds left lifted the 76ers to an 80-79 Salt Lake City Summer League victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night at the Vivint Arena.

The victory enabled the Sixers to conclude the three-day, four-team tournament with a 2-1 record. Now, they’ll head to Las Vegas to face the Toronto Raptors in Saturday’s NBA 2K23 Summer League opener at Cox Pavilion.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Trevelin Queen is building up teammates and promoting the big picture at summer league

Joe was the hero on this night, scoring 10 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter. But it was his late three-pointer that enabled the Sixers to leave the court with smiles on their faces.

“I realized I just had enough space to get it off,” Joe said of the game-winner. “Those are the types of tough shots I work on every day. So just knowing my teammates and the coaching staff has the trust in me to take that type of shot gives me even more confidence.

“It felt beautiful as soon as it left my hand. I wish they would have called a foul, but you know, you can’t get everything nowadays. But it felt good. It was good to get the win.”

Paul Reed added 14 points to go with seven rebounds and four turnovers. Trevelin Queen had an off night shooting, finishing with two points while missing all six of his shots. He did, however, finish with a team-high eight rebounds to go with three assists, two steals, one block, and four turnovers. Michael Foster Jr. blocked three shots in his first start of the summer league.

Jaden Springer finished with 11 points, six rebounds, three assists, and one steal. But nine of those points came in the first quarter. This comes two days after the 19-year-old scored 12 of his 15 points after intermission in Tuesday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. He had the night off during Wednesday’s victory over the Utah Jazz.

On Thursday, Springer attacked the basket in the first quarter, but cooled the rest of the game. On Tuesday, he didn’t attack the basket until the second half.

Springer will need to work on making an offensive impact for four quarters at UNLV.

But after coming on strong in the second half on Tuesday, he was electric in Thursday’s first quarter.

That’s when he made 3-of-4 shots and 3-of-5 free thrown foul shots while attacking the basket. Springer scored two points the rest of the way while missing nine straight shots.

» READ MORE: The Sixers’ Julian Champagnie is accustomed to being doubted — and pledges to prove cynics wrong

“I can say consistency, that’s the biggest thing,” Springer said of what he needs to improve. “I have to keep that up 40 minutes, 48 minutes, however long the game is.”

Thunder center Chet Holmgren, the second pick in last month’s NBA draft, sat out Thursday’s game after playing on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sixers center Charles Bassey and swingman Charlie Brown Jr. had the night off.