One of the major questions surrounding the Thunder‘s attempt to repeat as champions revolves around Jalen Williams and whether he can fully be himself after missing so much time with injuries this season. In Game 1’s win over the Suns, he looked like he had returned to form, Rylan Stiles writes for Sports Illustrated.
Stiles was impressed with Williams’ activity in passing lanes and going after loose balls, as well as his overall defense and ability to drive downhill with force.
The 6’6″ wing tallied 22 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in 29 minutes while hitting two of his five threes. His presence and energy seemed to electrify the Oklahoma City crowd, according to Stiles.
We have more from around the Northwest Division:
- Anthony Edwards is questionable for the Timberwolves‘ Game 2 matchup against the Nuggets on Monday, the team announced (via Twitter). He had previously been listed as questionable for Game 1 as well, but ended up playing 38 minutes, scoring 22 points on 19 shots while adding nine rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks in the 11-point loss.
- Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault says that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t get enough credit for his work on the defensive end. “We’ve had a great defense for a while now, and he plays the most minutes,” he said, per Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (Twitter video link). “We don’t have a great defense if we don’t have our highest-minute player being as good as he is and as impactful as he is.” In addition to his 25 points and seven assists in the win over the Suns, he also recorded two blocks.
- Defending Nikola Jokic is often a question of what you’re willing to give up, Vinny Benedetto writes for The Denver Gazette. In Game 1, the Wolves allowed him to shoot good looks from deep. Benedetto notes that Jokic’s first three shots were nearly wide-open threes. “If I’m open, I’m going to shoot it,” Jokic said after. “If I’m not open, I’m just going to play the game.” The three-time MVP finished the game hitting two of his seven looks from deep, which would indicate that the strategy paid off, but Nuggets head coach David Adelman was far from concerned. “He’s going to have a game this series where he makes five or six 3s, if that’s going to be the coverage,” he said.