The Jazz will have suffered the whole match last night, unable to stop the will-o’-the-wisp Jalen Williamswho has become an essential part of OKC's strike force alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander And Chet Holmgrenin the Thunder's victory (134-129).
In a match that became tight just before half-time, the winger, currently in great form, first took matters into his own hands to shake up the zonal defense, using his quality of passing and creation to find close-range opportunities. from the circle rather than using the 3-point excessively. He thus allowed his team to stay in the lead at the break.
“Recently we are a different team when we play against the zone”, admitted Shai Gilgeous-Alexanderimplicitly highlighting the work of Jalen Williams, credited with 8 assists last night.
A “game changer”
“We are starting to understand how best to attack it”for his part confirmed Josh Giddey. “It was a good response compared to the other night against LA, where we just took a lot of 3-point shots. But there, we really insisted by entering the racket to crack the zone.”
As Utah refused to give up, Jalen Williams again had to become a “game changer” in the fourth quarter to secure the blow. Author of 11 of his 27 points without missing a shot in the last act (and four assists as well as a block on Lauri Markkanen), he first carried his team when SGA was recharging the batteries on the bench, and is still distinguished by the correctness of his choices. “The start of the fourth quarter is its moment of glory”continued SGA.
“Fourth Quarter Dub” Strikes Again
The Thunder leader knows better than anyone the impact Jalen Williams has had on fourth quarters recently. In the fourth quarters of the last eight games, Jalen Williams averages 9.5 points at 78% from 3-point range! All while also defending hard on the other side of the field.
“It's important to have a guy who behaves like a hitman in scoring. But that's not the case at all. He controls the game, he gets his teammates involved, he makes proper reads and is aggressive for himself.”, noted his coach, Mark Daigneault. “He also has to defend against a big player every night. Being able to do that on offense and defense shows the complete aspect of his game. It's very impressive.”
Enough to legitimize the new nickname of “Fourth Quarter Dub” that his team has found for him: the one who wins matches in the fourth quarter!
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
