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Jalen Williams 'just gets more comfortable' and it shows in OKC Thunder win vs. Knicks
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- Jalen Williams 'just gets more comfortable' and it shows in OKC Thunder win vs. Knicks
With one's sweeping motions toward vital shots and the other's affinity for putting three fingers to his head, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams recreated a feeling and refined a prophecy all in one quarter.
A familiar feeling of hope and fortune, sensations that'd only been briefly sparked while the two shared the floor this season like a couple of alternating wires. A story deserving of an oracle and many chapters, with OKC's 129-120 Wednesday win over the Knicks being its best bit of foreshadowing yet.
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If there was a night to make the world believe a core three of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , Holmgren and Williams could take the Thunder franchise as far as it's ever been without another large variable — even if just for a moment — Wednesday was that.
On the second night of a back-to-back, fresh off the youngest heavyweight of the NBA's statement win over Minnesota , with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander carrying a most valuable offensive load, OKC needed a kick.
The weight of the Thunder's 2022 draft fell onto New York like an avalanche.
The flare. The flamboyance. The striking feeling of a foundation.
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Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) celebrates a 3-point play in the fourth quarter of a 129-120 win against the Knicks on Wednesday at Paycom Center.
Williams wielded that power as his fingers gravitated toward his forehead after a sidestep 3-pointer. 1-2-3. Twisted together like a fork, pointed outward like horns. The warning that he — or Dub — has arrived.
It was the first of 17 necessary and eventually excessive fourth-quarter points for Williams. He finished with a career-high 36 points, five rebounds and shot 5 for 5 from deep. The sidestep wasn't even what hurt the most.
It might've been his 3 with 3:11 to play that created a 10-point OKC lead and reaped the Knicks ' soul from them. The 3 he dropped 33 seconds later, which prevented any resurrection, was a contender too.
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"He just gets more comfortable — every game, every week — with his reps," Gilgeous-Alexander said of Williams. "Biggest thing with him was just him being aggressive early in his career. He's starting to get around to that and trust his work."
Williams and Holmgren combined to raise hell. As the fourth quarter dwindled, they developed heat seeking vision for each other. For switches, for feeding off the other's strengths.
Holmgren's abilities helped Williams handle like he was on a playground, giving him a way out of the double teams that he'll see from time to time as he directs the non-SGA minutes. Holmgren, who finished with 22 points and four blocks, was there to pick-and-pop, or to just move Taj Gibson out of the way.
"We're trusting each other a lot more than we had been earlier in the year," Williams said of his pairing with Holmgren.
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Oklahoma City forward Jalen Williams (8) celebrates a 3-point play in the fourth quarter during an NBA game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023.
When the spotlight shifted from one gut wrenching 3 from Williams after another, it was only because of a block Holmgren managed.
His helpside heave toward a Julius Randle shot that only saw glass, or his overkill of a denial on a late Isaiah Hartenstein lob with the game all but sealed. Impossible yet seemingly game-by-game stretches of his fingertips that've been equal parts unsurprising and awe-inducing.
A fourth quarter that probably didn't even need 10% of who Gilgeous-Alexander had became a blur. In part because the pairing of Williams and Holmgren had unleashed their wrath so quickly. In part because it'll only begin to blend in with what fans' idea of the pair's potential can be.
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When fans get imaginative inside the depths of the Paycom Center, they're right to assume that the figurative glass-stained walls inside the house on Reno would tell the story of an MVP-caliber shepherd pacing toward the future.
Though somewhere nearby should be the other two heads of the snake that complete the tale.
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SGA's pace enough to wave off Julius Randle's theatrics
There were few better matrimonies than Julius Randle and the free-throw line Wednesday. James Capers' ear and Randle's bark. The Knicks' forward's death stare and the officiating crew's stripes.
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Randle asked — berated, mostly — and received. After chirping through a half of physicality, Randle found himself at the line again and again. And again. 10 of his 25 points came from the free-throw line, with nine of his 13 attempts in the second half.
He bulldozed through OKC's defense, contributing to the start-and-stop that pulled the Thunder by the collar and even helped tie things up.
Then SGA did SGA things.
Ten third-quarter points (the Thunder's next highest was Williams at five), a pair of blocks. He became the sole source of blood flow for an offense that stumbled into a clog. He'd been that through a half, when he scored 19 of his 36 points on just nine shots.
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And while not as pretty, his third quarter was the only thing that stood between Randle's piercing glare and Capers.
It's happened so frequently, so effortlessly that fans haven't often batted an eye at the way SGA takes over quarters and games. Wednesday's third quarter was no different. But if SGA doesn't step in before Williams and Holmgren land the knockout punches, there's no telling whether Randle's third quarter could've swelled into something more.
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Thunder tip-ins
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The Thunder's four turnovers marked a league low on the season. All three of Holmgren, Williams, and Gilgeous-Alexander's reactions ranging from the big man being impressed to the other two being relatively stunned were all on-brand. On the other end, it forced 18 New York turnovers.
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Per Thunder PR, Gilgeous-Alexander's Wednesday performance marked 10 straight games with 25+ points and 2+ steals. He became just the third player to pull off such a streak since steals were officially tracked in the 1973-74 season. The other two? Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson.
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After playing just seven minutes, Jaylin Williams exited the game with a right hip contusion. As the fourth quarter began, the Thunder stated that he wouldn't return.
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Thunder vs. Nuggets
TIPOFF:8 p.m. Friday at Ball Arena in Denver (Bally Sports Oklahoma)
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Jalen Williams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lead OKC Thunder past Knicks
