OKC Thunder Need Secondary Stars to Break Out in Game 7

The Thunder have a big three, but only one has consistently shown up.

May 5, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) and forward Chet Holmgren (7) steal the ball from Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) during the second quarter during game one of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City needs big performances from its second and third stars to avoid a disappointing end to a 68-win season.

The Thunder and the Denver Nuggets have battled evenly through the first six games of one of the best playoff series in recent memory, with Sunday’s Game 7 set to decide the winner. Thus far, the series has had almost everything from MVP performances, role players taking over and gritty performances in the clutch.

However, the Thunder’s secondary stars taking over is something that has yet to happen in this series. While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had his faults, he has mostly been a rock for the Thunder in the second round.

On the other hand, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren have struggled to deliver a consistent impact, particularly on offense. While there have been times the two have simply missed their open looks, better shot selection and process on that end will be needed for the Thunder to pull out a Game 7 win.

Williams marks the obvious bounce-back candidate going into the win-or-go-home matchup. In Game 6, he scored only six points on 3-of-16 shooting. While he added 10 assists, that type of offensive performance won’t cut it from someone who averaged 21.6 points throughout the regular season.

Williams has only had one undeniably good offensive game in this series, coming in Game 3, when he scored 32 points in the Thunder’s narrow overtime loss. Outside of that matchup, Williams has failed to reach the 20-point mark in this series.

Meanwhile, Holmgren hasn’t reached that 20-point threshold at all after doing so twice in the first round against Memphis. Holmgren’s 19-point outing in Game 6 marked his best against Denver this postseason.

While an 8-of-14 performance to go with 11 rebounds would be a welcome sight in Game 7, his inability to score at a high volume consistently has been a concern, as he’s even had a game where he failed to reach double figures.

Williams and Holmgren will likely make positive impacts on Sunday with their versatile defense alone. But for the Thunder to win this series and continue chasing a championship, they will need one or both of Williams and Holmgren to make a clear statement with their offense.

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