Jalen Williams Remains Confident Amid Struggle, For Good Reason

The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking on the Denver Nuggets in a second round matchup that has seen Jalen Williams turn in struggling box scores, but as he remains confident you can still see improvements in his game.

May 15, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) controls the ball as Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0) guards in the second quarter during game six of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

This has been a forgettable series for Jalen Williams in the box score. Against the Denver Nuggets he is averaging a subpar 18.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.2 turnovers, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while turning in shooting splits of 36/24/82 through the first five games of this series.

That is not including a Game 6 that saw Williams post just six points, seven rebounds, 10 assists, three steals and a block on a lowly 18% shooting from the floor and 0-for-4 night from 3-point land.

With the tough results against the Denver Nuggets, it is easy to get lost in the box score and have the feelings of last year's disappointing series against the Dallas Mavericks come rushing back like memories pressed between the pages of your mind.

After all, in that six game series that ended the Thunder's season, Williams posted similar numbers. However, things are different now.

While the Santa Clara product lacks consistency in production, his process has been there all season. The Thunder swingman has been able to get to his spots at will in the mid-range and set his teammates up far better in this playoff series than his last second round appearance. That is a stark contrast to where he was a year ago laboring to get quality looks off and struggling as a decision-maker at times.

Williams has shown growth this postseason even if the numbers do not suggest that.

"Let's talk about what is consistent which is his defense, his floor game, he had a bunch of assists tonight, played really hard and competitive as he always does, so that it's like that's the floor of his game even when he has a rough shooting night like he did," Head coach Mark Daigneault said after Game 6. "Obviously, didn't shoot the ball well. Most of the looks I thought were shots that he can make that didn't go his way, as he misses a dunk late, you just kinda laugh that one off at that point. He is such a valuable floor game player, there is so much more that he does than score, that even on a night that was rough from the floor he still has a high impact on the team."

This has without question been a frustrating series for Williams as the rim is unkind to him and the misses mount. Though, Daigneault has no concerns over his ability to bounce back in a must-win Game 7 at home.

"He does it on his own. He is pretty good there. Really motivated competitor, like he will be ready to go on Sunday. I am sure he is disappointed, as we all are, in the outcome of [Game 6] and we are all looking at what we could've done better. But, when the ball goes up in the air Sunday, he's gonna be ready to rock," Daigneault said.

While Denver's defense deserves a lot of credit for forcing the issue, there is no secret formula that the Nuggets are going to. Denver has stuck with its zone defensive attack to give Oklahoma City's half-court offense fits in this series and that has been their same attack on the Santa Clara product.

"Honestly, I think it has been pretty consistent the whole series. There has been tweaks each team has made, but I feel like it has been the same...I wouldn't say there has been any like extra curveballs to the series that they've thrown out," Williams said.

The Thunder bench boss is right, Williams is still impacting the game in other ways especially on defense and as a table setter for the secondary lineups that has really bolstered Oklahoma City to a trio of wins in an otherwise inefficient offensive series for the All-Star.

Oklahoma City needs a big night from its co-star on Sunday to avoid a disappointing end to its historic 68-win season.

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