Subscribe
Follow Us
On Tuesday evening, the Oklahoma City Thunder went up 1-0 in their Western Conference Finals series vs the Minnesota Timberwolves with a dominant home win. The Thunder shook off a bit of a rough start, turning up the heat in the second half and ultimately pulling away from a Minnesota team that simply couldn't hit shots down the stretch of the game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City's scoring with 31 points, but the team also got an unexpected contribution from bench player Kenrich Williams, who knocked down consecutive jumpers at one point in the third quarter to help propel a huge Thunder run.
After the game, head coach Mark Daigneault got 100% real on Williams' impact.
“He hasn’t played significant minutes in a game since the last game of the regular season. 5 weeks ago… to be able to get it going… the Western Conference Finals and perform the way he did, the invisible work goes there,” he said, per Josue Pavón of ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.
Big man Isaiah Hartenstein also spoke on Williams' contribution to the victory.
“It’s huge… How he stays ready and also, just the mental part. I think that’s the biggest thing. You can do so much physically but mentally be ready to go even if you haven’t played in the last two series’ really,” said Hartenstein.
Williams' minutes had been sporadic at best through the Thunder's first two series; however, he epitomized the phrase “stay ready so you don't have to get ready” with his performance on Tuesday.
A deep Thunder team
While the Thunder are led by the likely NBA MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, arguably the team's biggest strength is its immense depth, as Daigneault frequently dips ten deep in his rotation, which is a rarity for a playoff setting.
Every member of the Thunder rotation can defend at an elite level, and they all can also shoot the outside shot, with the exception of Hartenstein, who is solid at virtually every other aspect of the game.
That depth appeared to wear out the Timberwolves on Tuesday, and the Thunder are now just three wins away from their first NBA Finals appearance in 13 years.
