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After Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault made a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander decision to save his All-Star for the fourth quarter, All-Star Jalen Williams helped slice an 11-point deficit in the third quarter against the Heat. Williams scored eight of his 18 points in the third quarter of Wednesday's 115-101 win against the Miami Heat. However, for Williams, it was Kenrich Willimas' motor that made all the difference after halftime.
After the Thunder's win against the Heat, Jalen gave Williams credit for making a difference on both ends of the floor for Oklahoma City.
“I'm going to be real; I wasn't out there so I don't know. It was fun to watch though,” Williams said. “We sucked the first three quarters. Middle of the third we kind of picked it up with that group. I think Kenrich's energy, and what he brought defensively, kind of carried us into that. I think I scored a little bit. But I think just his approach in that third quarter is what gave us energy into the fourth for them to play the way they were playing.”
Kenrich Williams led the Thunder's second unit with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-5 from deep and four rebounds against the Heat.
“The ball finds energy,” Williams added. “We were able to basically make a big run. I don't think I came in until four minutes left, which was nice. That's just our team. We have so many guys that can go on any night. We did a good job getting the car back on the road.”
Thunder All-Star Jalen finished with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, six rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led with 32 points, nine assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Coming off of Monday's win 137-101 win against the New Orleans Pelicans, where the Thunder made a franchise-record 27 threes, their offense has been on a tear lately.
Mark Daigneault's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander decision for Thunder
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander begin the fourth, which led to a 24-0 at the beginning of the final frame.
“He had asked me midway through the third if I wanted to stagger the rotation, which is me come out instead of playing more in the third and play the whole fourth,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “The way the game was going, the way Dub was playing, I figured it would be a good opportunity to try. And he pulled the trigger, and it worked.”
The Thunder will face the Timberwolves on Thursday.
