Jalen Williams recaps OKC Thunder’s win vs Indiana Pacers in Game 4 of NBA Finals
Jalen Williams had 27 points and seven rebounds in the Thunder’s 111-104 win over the Pacers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Jalen Williams scored 27 points in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, helping the Thunder defeat the Pacers 111-104.Williams’ consistent aggressive play throughout the game, including driving to the basket and getting to the free-throw line, was key to the Thunder’s victory.While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander faced heavy defensive pressure, Williams stepped up and carried the offensive load for the Thunder.
INDIANAPOLIS — With one final wayward heave secured by Thunder blue, Jalen Williams swung his fist down like he was slamming it on a table.
Then, he pumped both.
He threw in some mighty bellows for punctuation — as if they were needed.
Williams celebrated Friday with as much force as he played.
“Just trying to match their physicality and force throughout the game,” he said after the Thunder’s 111-104 win over the Pacers in Game 4. “Just being aggressive.”
He was that and more.
Williams entered these NBA playoffs as a wildcard for the Thunder. Would he play the way he had much of this season, a breakout in which he became a no-doubt All-Star? Or would he be plagued by the ups and downs of last year’s playoffs?
In Friday’s NBA Finals classic, Williams sent a loud-and-clear message: He won’t be denied.
He intends to make sure the Thunder won’t be either.
“I just try and find my spots and get better each and every game,” he said late Friday night in the white-washed cinder-block bowels of Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “Tonight was just one of those things. I saw some stuff where I could be a little more aggressive early; that’s what I just tried to do. Again, it’s just reading what my team does and just trying to play off them a little bit, too.”
Williams might’ve been playing off his team early in Game 4, but it was leaning on him.
With the Pacers sending two, three and sometimes four defenders at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, he was having trouble touching the ball much less shooting it.
Williams to the rescue.
He scored 10 of Oklahoma City’s first 21 points, hitting only 2 of 4 shots but getting to the free-throw line six times.
“He was special,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He’s been really good the last couple nights. It’s impressive to see his growth and his ability at such a young age on this stage.”
Hold up. SGA talking about guys playing so well so young?
The MVP is only 26.
But this is his seventh year in the league. Williams, 24, is only in his third season.
Still, Williams seemed to sense not only that his team needed him but also what he could do about it. He could drive the lane and get to the rim. He could probe the defense and find a comfort zone.
He could dictate.
“He did it early, started getting downhill, made a couple shots,” Thunder veteran Alex Caruso said. “Even more than that, being good on the defensive end, coming up with rebounds late that we needed.”
Early and late. Williams sustained his aggression throughout Game 4.
His points by quarter: 12, 4, 7 and 4.
There were moments when he wasn’t spectacular. Early in the second half, he sandwiched an and-one between a turnover and a couple of missed shots. Late in the third, a couple of misses came before two free throws and a made bucket with only seconds left.
Misses will happen, but even when shots weren’t falling, Williams wasn’t settling.
That wasn’t always the case in Game 3. He was forceful early, scoring four of the Thunder’s first six points, but then he went largely quiet. Only had one more shot in the first quarter. Turned it over a couple of times. Had a rebound, a steal. But until a little flurry at the end of the first half and again at the start of the second half, he didn’t dictate.
Friday was different.
Even though his stat lines were weirdly similar in both games — 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting in Game 3, 27 points on 8-of-18 shooting in Game 4 — Williams seemed to recognize where the Thunder was lacking, then figure out a way to provide.
“He can carry the load. He can be the second fiddle. He can just play defense. He can guard your five,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “There’s so many things he can do on a basketball court. I think that’s why he’s having the year he’s having.”
Why Williams is having the postseason he’s having, too.
He’s had 10 games of 20-plus points in these playoffs. In a dozen games, he’s been at neutral or on the good side of the plus-minus.
By comparison, Gilgeous-Alexander has had 15 such playoff games this year while Caruso has 13.
And no other Thunder besides SGA has been in double digits in double-digit playoff games.
Williams’ scoring has been fairly steady, too.
First round vs. Memphis: 23.5 points a game.
Western Conference semis vs. Denver: 17.6.
Western Conference finals vs. Minnesota: 22.2.
NBA Finals: 22.3.
He’s gotten better as the stage has gotten bigger. Now, on the biggest one, he’s playing as well as he has in the entire playoffs.
“Yeah, I mean, it forces you to play at a higher pace, a higher performance,” he said. “I think my biggest thing is just stepping into the moment, success or fail, just kind of living with the results.
“I put a lot of work into my game, so I just go out there and play. I just don’t want to ever play a game and look back where I wasn’t aggressive, afraid to do a move, whatever the case may be. That’s how I look at it.”
The way Williams talks, that sounds so simple: Just go do what you know how to do while the entire basketball world is watching and accept whatever happens.
It is anything but easy, of course.
Good players wilt in the heat of the playoffs spotlight all the time. In the NBA Finals? They combust.
The thing is, Williams isn’t a good player. He’s a great player, and great players don’t succumb to the fire. They step into it and dance.
Williams talked to Scott Van Pelt on ESPN after Friday’s game, and the SportsCenter host asked about carrying more of a load.
“But that puts more on your plate,” SVP said. “I presume you welcome that.”
“Yeah, yeah, more food on the plate is fun,” Williams said. “But yeah, I’m just embracing the role that I’m in. I’m playing in the Finals at 24; it’s a special opportunity.
“So the more on my plate, the better.”
Jalen Williams is feasting.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.