Jalen Williams' Breakout Game Leads Thunder Past Spurs, 119-111
The Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Spurs on Wednesday night, hoping to push San Antonio’s eight-game losing streak to nine. And they did. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sidelined, the Thunder’s rookie, Jalen Williams, stepped up to help the Thunder overcome a 20-point deficit to bring home their ninth win of the year.
A barrage of 3-pointers from the Thunder opened up the first quarter with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl drawing first blood before Williams and Luguentz Dort were able to add a couple more. But the Spurs, led by Keldon Johnson, would drain multiple triples of their own, answering each Thunder basket with one of their own and eventually building a small lead.
After both squads made their first substitutions of the night, the Thunder were able to tie the Spurs, 27-27, thanks to an energetic and active defense providing scoring opportunities for forwards Ousmane Dieng and Aleksej Pokusevsi.
But the Spurs’ hot offense would find a way to edge out the Thunder to bring the game to 35-32 heading towards the second frame.
The Thunder opened up the second frame on fire, showing off a scrappy defense that forced Spurs’ turnovers and misses leading to a pair of crafty finishes by Dieng and Tre Mann, but left a couple of points on the table due to misses from the free throw line.
But a combination of missed opportunities and defensive lapses would lead to a 15-point deficit for the Thunder at the midway point as the Spurs’ Tre Jones and Devin Vassell seemed to be having their way, getting to the line and making shots from all over the floor.
The Thunder San Antonio’s offensive onslaught would continue through the final stretch of the first half, led by two Johnson triples. The Thunder attempted to settle things down and crack the Spurs’ code, but to no avail, as they would head towards the tunnel down 77-60.
Coming out of the break, Dort, Giddey, and Jalen Williams seemed to breathe some life into the Thunder’s offense, shaving the Spurs’ lead down to just eight points in the first four minutes of the third frame, bringing the score to 74-82.
From there on, San Antonio’s appeared to cool off, but so did Oklahoma City’s. As a result, the game appeared to come to a standstill as each team struggled to score throughout much of the quarter.
Jalen Williams seemed to have other plans, though, as a monstrous dunk highlighted his six points, leading the Thunder on a quick 6-0 run, bringing the score to 96-88 to end the third frame.
Carrying over momentum from the previous run, a deep 3-pointer by Mann and another layup by Williams would ignite the Thunder to kick off the fourth. This would cut the Thunder’s deficit to just three, bringing it to a one-possession game.
Mann would pick off an errant pass and find a quick layup on the other end to tie things up 98-98. The Spurs would answer back, retaking the lead, but Giddey would work his way inside for another tying bucket before Mann would rise up to bury a triple and give the Thunder a three-point lead.
The Spurs would find themselves down five points with two minutes to go after Dort checked back into the game to finish two tough drives but Kieta Bates-Diop would bring them within two after converting a three-point play.
But Jalen Williams once again delivered the eventual kill shot, a soft-touch floater from about 17 feet out to secure Oklahoma City’s ninth victory of the season.
The Thunder get two days off before flying to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves on Saturday for the third time this season. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. CST.
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