'Gotta Trust Each Other': OKC Thunder in Need of Support from Supporting Cast as Mavericks Swing Series in Favor

The current regime of the Oklahoma City Thunder hasn't been in this position before.

After another miserable offensive performance in Game 5, the Thunder now fall behind the Dallas Mavericks in their second round series, 3-2. Its group of young talent has yet to make it in a playoff series this far, much less with its back against the wall facing elimination on the road.

Luckily, Oklahoma City's fearless leader — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — has rised to the occasion. He's averaging 31.4 points, nine rebounds and 7.2 assists per game in the series on an efficient shooting splits. This is exactly what the job of a No. 1 option on a championship team requires, giving even further confidence that he is the franchise cornerstone for the foreseeable future.

The rest of the roster has left much to be desired. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren have been viewed as the No. 2 and No. 3 scoring options for the entirety of the regular season, but their individual production against the Mavericks hasn't been enough.

Williams has struggled the most by a considerable margin. The explosive play the Thunder has been acustmed to from him has been lacking, instead turning into a shell of his former self. The 23-year-old is averaging 16 points, six rebounds and 5.2 assists, while shooting just 40.8% from the field and 31.3% from behind the arc.

The unrivaled energy of Oklahoma City has taken a substantial hit through its second round tribulations. its confidence seems to be low on the outside, especially in regards to the usual confidence it sees from "J-Dub."

"I think sometimes I should probably force a little more," Williams said. "But I'm big on playing within the team, like we've been doing all year. I think [I'm] sometimes getting caught up in trying to create for others the whole game — It's a balance that I'm still trying to figure out."

Williams has not been nearly aggressive enough Dallas offensively to warrant his label of a second option, even if he technically has been. It's natural for the playoffs to cause younger players to get more timid and opt to move the ball around more with the increased pressure, but with where the Thunder is currently at, it needs the forward to find his confidence again.

Although Holmgren has shot more efficiently and done an adequate job as Oklahoma City's defensive anchor in the paint, his 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game still aren't moving the needle quite enough. The 22-year-old could be a lot more aggressive in scoring the ball, which would help aleviate some of the pressures Williams if feeling.

Even through the woes facing the Thunder, it still has confidence in its core to battle back from elimination and force a Game 7.

"There's no player, regardless of where they are in their career, that doesn't struggle in the playoffs at different times throughout the course of a series...Those guys are going to bounce back," head coach Mark Daigneault said. "They're really good players that we have a ton of confidence in."

"I'm not worried about those guys in a playoff setting at all,"Gilgeous-Alexander said affirmatively on Williams and Holmgren.

It may look bleak right now, but Oklahoma City isn't going to forget what carried it to a No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Williams and Holmgren have been pivotal pieces to its ample, yet largely surprising success this year, and some struggles aren't going to keep them for pushing towards giving it their all for the rest of the series.

The leadership of both Gilgeous-Alexander and Daigneault are keeping their heads high while the going is getting tough, which is the best thing it can do at this stage. The Thunder can't lose trust in each other through hardship, it has to trust each other even more. If not, rallying back is going to be substantially more difficult.

"I though our process was good the whole game, we just lost," Williams said. "Just keep sticking with it. You've gotta trust each other. We're gonna live and die trusting each other throughout the whole game."

It truly is a live or die point for Oklahoma City approaching Game 6. It has one last chance at extending the series to a Game 7 at home, but it has to one-up the Mavericks on their home court — a provenly difficult task.

Gilgeous-Alexander will be ready, but it comes down to the "others" on if the Thunder can do it. Williams and Holmgren must support him better, or competing with a lethal Dallas offense isn't going to be possible any longer.

Oklahoma City has trust. But Saturday, it needs to act on it.

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