Thunder’s Jalen Williams goes full Captain Obvious on what makes Spurs tough to beat

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OKLAHOMA CITY — For Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star forward Jalen Williams, San Antonio Spurs All-Star center Victor Wembanyama’s impact in a 117-102 Christmas Day loss was stating the obvious, according to his postgame press conference. Before All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander declared the Spurs a better team than the Thunder, Williams discussed Wembanyama’s disruptive approach as to what makes San Antonio so tough to beat.

Offensively, however, Williams addressed the Spurs’ plethora of scorers outside Wembanyama, who made his presence felt on defense, according to Williams.

“There’s this guy on their team that’s 7-foot-5 and takes up a lot of space on the court,” Williams said. “So, that’s that, defensively, and offensively, they play as a team.”

For Williams, the lack of course correction proved the Thunder’s downfall in the second half, when the Spurs outscored Oklahoma City 26-19 in the third quarter, leaving Williams and the Thunder playing from behind to erase a double-digit deficit that ballooned to a 17-point lead in the final frame.

“When you want the game really bad, we kind of lost track of that, and then every play we tried to make down was a Hail Mary instead of sticking to principle regarding our offense,” Williams added. “Every time we went through our progressions, we got really good looks. There was probably a stretch where we missed like five or six wide-open threes. And I think us missing those led to us not playing defense on the other end, and it kind of snowballed from there.”

Jalen Williams finished with 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting, including 1-for-2 from deep, six assists, and two steals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 22 points led five Thunder players in double figures, including Isaiah Hartenstein, who finished with a double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds), and Alex Caruso’s dozen points on 3-for-13 shooting led the bench.

Perhaps some home cooking will help the Thunder amid a two-game skid and a four-game homestand, which started with the Spurs’ Christmas Day showdown.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s take on Thunder’s loss to Spurs Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander credited the Spurs’ third win against the defending champion, second in three days, by calling them better. For Gilgeous-Alexander, losing to a team three times in two weeks means something, as he explained to reporters during his postgame media availability.

“We have to get better as a group. You don’t lose to a team three times in a row in a short span without them being better than you,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have to get better. Look in the mirror, and that’s everybody from top to bottom, if we want to reach our ultimate goal.”

The Thunder fell to 26-5.

Thunder’s Jalen Williams goes full Captain Obvious on what makes Spurs tough to beat

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