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Jalen Williams barely slept on the eve of Game 7.
“I was just excited to play,” he said. “You never know how many Game 7s you’re gonna get, and it’s an opportunity to be great.”
Would Williams be great? Good, even?
Game 6 ended on that cliffhanger. A scene of a distraught J-Dub that left everybody wondering if the Thunder’s second star would show up Sunday afternoon in the Game 7 finale.
Spoiler alert: He did.
Williams redeemed himself and then some in the Thunder’s 125-93 close-out rout of the Nuggets.
He was the best player in the biggest quarter of the season — the second quarter of Game 7, a period the Thunder won 39-20. A quarter in which the Thunder had as many steals (six) as the Nuggets had field goals.
“He brought his A-game when we needed it most,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of Williams, “and that’s what makes you the upper echelon in this league.”
CARLSON: With road to NBA championship wide open, OKC Thunder passes huge test in bouncing Nuggets
Williams, the first-year All-Star, kept pace all by himself with the Nuggets in that second quarter. He scored 17 of his 24 points. He shot 8 of 11 in the frame and was 10 of 17 for the game.
Along with his 24 points, Williams had a team-high seven assists against one turnover. He grabbed five rebounds and one steal.
“Great force, especially early,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of J-Dub. “It was definitely a conscious effort by him to use his speed and his power. He was on the gas from the jump tonight.”
Williams and the Thunder took full advantage of a hobbled Aaron Gordon, who gutted out Game 7 through a hamstring strain. Gordon, to his credit, grabbed 11 rebounds. But he was a step slow defensively. And without a full-go Gordon, the Nuggets' defense was leaky.
It was death by a million backdoor cuts.
Williams and the Thunder pounded the Nuggets in the paint, outscoring Denver 64-42.
The ghost of playoff past — yes, just one of them — has followed Williams this postseason. Williams shrank in the Dallas series a year ago, but then again, he was a second-year player asked to be the No. 2 option in the second round of the playoffs.
That was the same ask of Williams this postseason, now as a 24-year-old with another season of experience on his resume.
5 TAKEAWAYS: OKC Thunder storms past Nuggets in Game 7 to reach Western Conference finals
His results were inconsistent this series, but bouncing back from a Game 6 clunker with a clutch Game 7 showed maturity from a player who doesn’t always have that (see above: he’s 24).
“You talk about bouncing back, no player in the playoffs in this competitive of a series plays great every night,” Daigneault said. “(Nikola) Jokic is as good as anybody, obviously — he didn’t play great every night in the series.
"It’s hard. Dub, I think because he’s in his third year, takes a little more flak for that, but it’s hard to perform in the playoffs … But he rises up every time. He did last year in the Dallas series. Game 6 was his best game after some struggles, and tonight was his best game after some struggles as well.”
Gilgeous-Alexander sat next to Williams on the postgame podium.
How did SGA think Williams played?
“Terrible,” Gilgeous-Alexander joked.
“Nah, he was amazing,” SGA continued. “Dub was a big reason for our little stretch of the lead in the second quarter. Gave us momentum. His growth as a basketball player, we’ve seen it all year, but his growth mentally has been more impressive to me. He wouldn’t have played the way he played today last year, and I know that 100%.
“To see him take that step forward, it’s a really proud moment for me. Just knowing what he goes through on a day-to-day basis, knowing where he comes from, like that’s really my brother.”
As Gilgeous-Alexander kept answering questions, Williams yawned.
He was due for some good sleep.
More: OKC Thunder vs Minnesota Timberwolves predictions, odds: Who wins Western Conference finals?
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at [email protected]. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Jalen Williams redeems himself by fueling Thunder vs Nuggets in Game 7
Continue reading...
“I was just excited to play,” he said. “You never know how many Game 7s you’re gonna get, and it’s an opportunity to be great.”
Would Williams be great? Good, even?
Game 6 ended on that cliffhanger. A scene of a distraught J-Dub that left everybody wondering if the Thunder’s second star would show up Sunday afternoon in the Game 7 finale.
Spoiler alert: He did.
Williams redeemed himself and then some in the Thunder’s 125-93 close-out rout of the Nuggets.
He was the best player in the biggest quarter of the season — the second quarter of Game 7, a period the Thunder won 39-20. A quarter in which the Thunder had as many steals (six) as the Nuggets had field goals.
“He brought his A-game when we needed it most,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of Williams, “and that’s what makes you the upper echelon in this league.”
CARLSON: With road to NBA championship wide open, OKC Thunder passes huge test in bouncing Nuggets
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Williams, the first-year All-Star, kept pace all by himself with the Nuggets in that second quarter. He scored 17 of his 24 points. He shot 8 of 11 in the frame and was 10 of 17 for the game.
Along with his 24 points, Williams had a team-high seven assists against one turnover. He grabbed five rebounds and one steal.
“Great force, especially early,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of J-Dub. “It was definitely a conscious effort by him to use his speed and his power. He was on the gas from the jump tonight.”
Williams and the Thunder took full advantage of a hobbled Aaron Gordon, who gutted out Game 7 through a hamstring strain. Gordon, to his credit, grabbed 11 rebounds. But he was a step slow defensively. And without a full-go Gordon, the Nuggets' defense was leaky.
It was death by a million backdoor cuts.
Williams and the Thunder pounded the Nuggets in the paint, outscoring Denver 64-42.
The ghost of playoff past — yes, just one of them — has followed Williams this postseason. Williams shrank in the Dallas series a year ago, but then again, he was a second-year player asked to be the No. 2 option in the second round of the playoffs.
That was the same ask of Williams this postseason, now as a 24-year-old with another season of experience on his resume.
5 TAKEAWAYS: OKC Thunder storms past Nuggets in Game 7 to reach Western Conference finals
His results were inconsistent this series, but bouncing back from a Game 6 clunker with a clutch Game 7 showed maturity from a player who doesn’t always have that (see above: he’s 24).
“You talk about bouncing back, no player in the playoffs in this competitive of a series plays great every night,” Daigneault said. “(Nikola) Jokic is as good as anybody, obviously — he didn’t play great every night in the series.
"It’s hard. Dub, I think because he’s in his third year, takes a little more flak for that, but it’s hard to perform in the playoffs … But he rises up every time. He did last year in the Dallas series. Game 6 was his best game after some struggles, and tonight was his best game after some struggles as well.”
Gilgeous-Alexander sat next to Williams on the postgame podium.
How did SGA think Williams played?
“Terrible,” Gilgeous-Alexander joked.
“Nah, he was amazing,” SGA continued. “Dub was a big reason for our little stretch of the lead in the second quarter. Gave us momentum. His growth as a basketball player, we’ve seen it all year, but his growth mentally has been more impressive to me. He wouldn’t have played the way he played today last year, and I know that 100%.
“To see him take that step forward, it’s a really proud moment for me. Just knowing what he goes through on a day-to-day basis, knowing where he comes from, like that’s really my brother.”
As Gilgeous-Alexander kept answering questions, Williams yawned.
He was due for some good sleep.
More: OKC Thunder vs Minnesota Timberwolves predictions, odds: Who wins Western Conference finals?
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at [email protected]. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Jalen Williams redeems himself by fueling Thunder vs Nuggets in Game 7
Continue reading...
