The Jalen Williams game had yet to come yet in 2024.
Williams is widely expected to eventually become an all-star and a 20-point per game scorer, but for whatever reason, his start to the season had been slow — until Friday.
Williams and the Thunder used a big third quarter to defeat the Portland Trailblazers 137-114.
Despite the lopsided final score, the game was tied at halftime and it appeared as if Portland, despite being greatly outmanned, had OKC on the ropes a few times throughout the game. But, following a physical sequence that saw both teams unhappy with no-calls, Williams was assigned a technical foul after having some choice words for an official. Following the technical, OKC seemed to wake up and from that point on, OKC dominated Portland as most expected it to.
While Williams’ performance was the loudest, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander quietly put up 30-6-7 and had a few moments when it seemed it didn’t matter who was guarding him. Gilgeous-Alexander’s bouncing back from one of his worst games over the past few years isn’t surprising, but the fact he and Williams had to overcompensate for Chet Holmgren was. Holmgren, who has played like an MVP candidate this season, was in foul trouble for most of the night and scored only six points. Holmgren was still impactful defensively with five blocks, but his lack of offensive production was probably the reason OKC didn’t put the Blazers away earlier.
Fortunately for Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and the rest of the Thunder were on fire from deep and that eventually became too much for Portland to handle.
OKC made 19 threes and everyone who played at least five minutes outside of Holmgren and Alex Caruso made at least one shot from beyond the arc.
Despite his struggles Friday, there is no reason to be concerned about the long-term prospects of Holmgren, both for this season and the future. Portland, for all its issues, has a plethora of old-school, thick big men. Both Donovan Clingan and Deandre Ayton are a rarity in the modern NBA and they are an archetype that can give Holmgren issues if he isn’t allowed to match their physicality.
Saturday, Holmgren is dealing with another one of these players in Ivica Zubac and I expect him to return to the MVP, superstar level he was at through the first four games of the season.
OKC’s win over Portland advanced its record to 5-0 for the first time since 2011. For OKC to be dominating teams without Isaiah Hartenstein, with Alex Caruso struggling offensively and only one above-average offensive performance, speaks to the upside of this team. Prior to the season, I was skeptical OKC could hit 60 wins on the season, but with how dominant it has been at less than full strength, I’m beginning to believe it’s a possibility.
