Jalen Williams' impressive performance upon returning from a hip injury highlights the Oklahoma City Thunder's resilience and potential. Despite recent losses to the Dallas Mavericks, Williams' scoring prowess and all-around contributions offer a glimpse of the Thunder's bright future.
Oklahoma City is coming off a disappointing four-game stretch, going 2-2 overall and losing to the Mavericks twice. Considering the Thunder have just eight losses on the entire season, losing twice in one week to a Western Conference rival stings a bit more. The absence of Chet Holmgren and Mike Hartenstein surely played a role in the two losses, but the Thunder should be good to go soon, with Hartenstein and Holmgren should be good to go soon, and Alex Caruso is back in the lineup.
Dropping two games to the Mavericks isn’t the end of the world considering Oklahoma City was missing Hartenstein and Holmgren, but learning through the losses will always be important. And there are certainly a handful of positives to take away from the two-loss week, too. Jalen Williams returned from a hip injury in a massive way. Williams has returned from a very short absence looking fresh and rejuvenated. He has looked comfortable on the floor and his defense has remained terrific. On Saturday against Utah, Williams returned from a brief stint on the injury report by exploding for 25 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. He shot 50% from the floor and took seven free throw attempts — which has been a big development lately. Then, one day later, Williams followed up his big performance with a 33-point outing — tying a season-high. He did so with incredible efficiency, too, shooting 11-of-19 from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Sticking to the trend, he also shot 10 free throws. J-Dub added seven assists, four rebounds, and four steals. It was arguably his best game of the season. Overall, Williams is averaging 21.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game as Oklahoma City’s second scoring option. His fit next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Hartenstein gets better with every game played. Once Holmgren returns, it’ll only help Williams more. The two games since returning from injury should give him the ultimate confidence moving forward. Oklahoma City will need him at his very best when it matters down the stretch.
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER JALEN WILLIAMS NBA CHET HOLMGREN MIKE HARTENSTEIN WESTERN CONFERENCE
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