Corey Brewer confident 3-point streak will continue

Corey Brewer hadn’t made a 3-pointer all night, but

Carmelo Anthony hit him in the corner and he didn’t hesitate.

The triple Brewer swished late in the fourth quarter in Boston didn’t prove to be the backbreaker it seemed it might.

Anthony missed two free throws, the Thunder blew a late lead and the Celtics rallied for a 100-99 win on Tuesday.

Still, Anthony’s fourthquarter assist to Brewer was the latest example of the faith Oklahoma City has in him from behind the line. Despite a 1-for-6 3-point shooting night in Boston, Brewer is hitting 38.2 percent from long range with the Thunder.

He’s made 13 of 34 3-pointers with OKC after hitting 8 of 43 (18.6 percent) in 54 games with the Lakers before they bought him out.

“They talk about in L.A. I was shooting 18 percent,” Brewer said last week. “I was taking one 3 every, like, five games. If I don’t make it, I’m not gonna get to shoot the ball for another five games. People that don’t know basketball, those numbers can get skewed.”

But Brewer always was confident he’d shoot the ball well if given an opportunity.

Though he’s made 28.2 percent of his career 3-point attempts, Brewer has made 30.9 percent of his career 3-pointers from the corners.

Twice in his career he’s shot better than 35 percent on corner 3-pointers in a season.

With the Thunder this season, Brewer is shooting 48 percent on corner 3s, and though that number is unsustainable, Brewer is confident he can continue knocking down shots if he keeps getting open looks.

And he’s convinced teams won’t give him open looks exclusively.

They’ll close out to him behind the line, giving him the opportunity to drive.

He hasn’t done it since 2014-15, but Brewer has averaged double-digit scoring four times in his career and our times in his career, Brewer has averaged double-digit points in a season and once famously scored 51 points in a game for the Timberwolves.

“You’re not just gonna leave me open — you can ask any coach in the NBA,” Brewer said. “Numbers this, numbers that. Leave me open if you want. I didn’t score 50 in a game for no reason. I can score.”

Scheduling quirk

Over the next 18 days, the Thunder will play the Miami Heat twice. It’s an odd bit of scheduling that the two teams — who play twice every season — haven’t met yet.

The Thunder and Heat didn’t play in the calendar year 2017.

Still, this isn’t the latest that the two teams have first met in a season. They played on March 25 and April 4 in 2011-12.

“It’s unique, but at this point they got more than enough of a body of work to know personnel and what they do,” Thunder forward

Paul George said. “It’s not a game we’re going into blindly.”

Like father, like son

Thunder coach Billy Donovan planned to attend the Oklahoma City Blue game on Thursday, and not just to check in on the Thunder’s G League affiliate.

The Blue hosted the Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, and Donovan’s son Billy Donovan III is an assistant coach for Austin.

Back to Tulsa

The Thunder will return to Tulsa for a preseason game next season, the team announced on Thursday.

Oklahoma City will host the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, Oct. 7, at Tulsa’s BOK Center.

The game will tip off at 2 p.m. It’ll be the Thunder’s 10th preseason game in Tulsa, its first against the Hawks.

Tickets go on sale April 18 at 10 a, m. at bokcenter. com starting at $16 per ticket.

The rest of the Thunder’s preseason schedule will be released at a later date.