Jalen Williams Providing Fourth Quarter Spark for OKC Thunder
An Oklahoma City Thunder star is figuring out how to take over in important moments.
While Jalen Williams has played well throughout the season, his recent fourth-quarter performances have been a major boost for Oklahoma City. Although losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets have stalled momentum, Oklahoma City is seeing where Williams can best contribute.
In the recent losses, the second-year forward has helped the Thunder get back into games in the fourth quarter. In Brooklyn, he played the entire fourth quarter and scored 12 points.
Among his buckets was a layup to get the Thunder’s deficit to single digits for the first time since the first quarter. He had a similar effort in the Thunder’s comeback effort in Atlanta, scoring 12 points and adding four assists, his most in a fourth quarter this season.
Including those two games, Williams has scored at least 10 points in the fourth quarter seven times this season. Five of those have come in the Thunder’s past eight games.
The Rookie of the Year runner-up had another impressive fourth in the Thunder’s biggest game of the season against the Boston Celtics. While he scored just eight points on Tuesday, his late bucket on Jayson Tatum proved he can be a reliable option in the final seconds.
Of course, his best outing came in Oklahoma City’s game against the New York Knicks in late December. Williams scored 17 of his career-high 36 points in the final frame, including back-to-back 3-pointers to put the game out of reach in the closing minutes.
For the season, Williams is averaging 6.7 points in the fourth quarter. The Thunder’s starting forward also shoots 61% from the floor and 53.6% from beyond the arc in the last 12 minutes.
At 18.1 points per game, Williams’ fourth quarters make up a fair chunk of his overall scoring. While it would be great for Oklahoma City for him to always start games hot, knowing it has a player who can heat up to finish games is a luxury.
Williams’ outbursts are difficult to consistently replicate, but if he can keep it up, those moments could easily swing a playoff series.
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