It is not always Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who shines for the Oklahoma City Thunder. A lot of players step up but no one in the team, not even a player in the history of the franchise, has done it like Jalen Williams. He was steamrolling the New York Knicks despite big numbers being put up by Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.
Jalen Williams became the first player in Thunder history to have recorded 30+ points on perfect three-point shooting despite taking five shots along with no turnovers, per StatMuse. He got a career-high of 36 points against the Knicks which largely boosted their chances of winning. The cherry on top was that he did not commit a turnover.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also followed suit in the Thunder’s scoring barrage. The star scored 36 points, dropped eight dimes, and cleaned up the boards seven times. Chet Holmgren rounded out the list of top scorers after knocking down buckets that were worth 22 points.
The Knicks also wanted to trade haymakers until the final minutes of the game. Julius Randle terrorized the Thunder defense when he put up 25 points and grabbed nine boards. His partner, Jalen Brunson, also got in on the action by assisting on seven plays as well as scoring 24 points. Immanuel Quickley also came out to play with 22 points of his own.
In the end, the Thunder came up clutch to secure the win in the fourth quarter. They were firing on all cylinders and the barrage only stopped when the final buzzer sounded. This is not just SGA’s team rather it is a collective effort of players stepping up on multiple occasions to get them the second-best record out in the Western Conference.