Snatching the ball from Christian Braun, Jalen Williams had nothing between himself and the basket. The Oklahoma City Thunder needed the transition bucket as a last-gasp effort for a comeback. Instead, the 24-year-old’s dunk attempt ricocheted off the rim. Sheesh. Talk about a lowlight that encapsulated your night.
The Thunder will play a Game 7 after a 119-107 Game 6 loss to the Denver Nuggets kept their season alive. A chance to clinch on the road, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s teammates struggled to show up.
Williams finished with six points on 3-of-16 shooting, 10 assists and seven rebounds. He shot 0-of-4 from 3. He also had three steals and a block.
The social-media-savvy start will be better off staying away from his phone. The Thunder fanbase has lit their torch and sharpened their pitchforks. They’ve made Williams the face of this frustrating loss. Outside of Game 3, he’s been unreliable as a second scorer.
It lurked in the background this playoff series, but was plastered on your face tonight. You couldn’t ignore Williams’ struggles as the Thunder offense went through more dry spells and couldn’t break Denver’s zone defense. The drives to the basket were empty trips and the jumper looked skittish.
“Make shots. I think I got to the spots I wanted to get to and it didn’t go in. Just how basketball works but nah, not really,” Williams said. “I think I had a good process of what I was doing. I just hurt us tonight not making shots.”
Despite the invisible shot-making, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault went to bat for his All-Star after the game. He said Williams contributed in other ways besides the scoring column and has full confidence in him to bounce back for the biggest game of the season.
“The first thing is, let’s talk about what is consistent, which is his defense and floor game. He had a bunch of assists tonight. Played really hard and competitive as he always does. That’s the floor of his game, even when he has a rough shooting night like he did and is still very impactful on the game,” Daigneault said about Williams. “But obviously didn’t shoot the ball well. Most of the looks were shots I thought he could make that didn’t go his way. He misses a dunk late. You just gotta laugh one off at that point.”
Gilgeous-Alexander expressed a similar sentiment. Like acing your final paper, Williams’ series struggles can be washed away with an impactful Game 7 performance that helps OKC move to the next round and finally beat Denver for good.
“It’s life. It’s basketball. Tonight wasn’t his night clearly. Best part about it all is he’ll have an opportunity to change all that. He has a big game next game, nobody remembers, nobody cares,” Gilgeous-Alexander about Williams. “He doesn’t either. Just get ready for the next opportunity, like I always tell the guys. Always something ahead of you and learn from your experiences.”
The biggest question mark about their title odds was whether Williams could step up as their second-best scorer. That’s been a resounding no. He’ll have one more chance to change that in Game 7. It’ll be his biggest career game that can go a long way with how he’s nationally perceived.
“It’s the first to four. Obviously this game, you kinda have to be able to wipe the slate clean. I don’t think anybody on our team cares about the game after we play. You still have to go out. The next game is going to go out and be 0-0,” Williams said. “You have to play another really good game. That’s how I think about it. That’s how the team thinks about it. Just kinda be ready to bounce back. That’s what we did all year and have to do it again.”