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The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the NBA Playoffs as the Western Conference's number-one seeded team, but crashed and burned at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. Thunder swingman Jalen Williams recently unpacked on JJ Redick's podcast the circumstances on how their young upstart squad was upended by the Mavericks, which made it all the way to the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.
In the first round, the Thunder dispatched the New Orleans Pelicans in a four-game sweep. However, in the second round, the young Thunder squad contended with a Mavericks team that picked apart the Los Angeles Clippers. Oklahoma City eventually fell in a six-game series.
Jalen Williams broke down how OKC fell apart against the Mavericks, via The Old Man and the Three. He noted Dallas' hot long-range shooting made manageable deficits stretch into an insurmountable disadvantage.
“Looking back on our series [against the Mavericks], I think defensively we did a good job,” Williams said. “I think the biggest thing with us was…there's a couple of games where we had timely breakdowns and I think the biggest thing is with them they go on…really loud runs because of the rate they shoot threes.”
“So when they're up 10, it's really easy to panic and get out of what works for you, and I think there was points in our game where we did that and tried to force a couple of things and then now 10 is 15 and you know you're just playing from behind the whole game,” Williams continued. “So up 10, down 10, you just got to stick with it and then whatever your game plan is just live and die by that.”
Thunder have building blocks for future after Williams' ‘fun' season
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Jalen Williams said that the Thunder far exceeded expectations, especially getting a playoff series win and staying competitive in their second round series against the Mavericks.
“[A]s a team, I thought we had a really good year of growth and I don't think many people expected us to be where we were, especially the whole season we were pretty much the [number] one [rank] or in that [number] one to three [rank] range,” Williams said. “I thought we did a really good job there, sticking together through that and being as young as we were. Being able to win a playoff series, [then] take Dallas to six [games] and keep every one of those games competitive and close to I think we had a really successful year [with] a lot to build on.”
“I think everyone's going into the summer knowing what they want to work on with a clear view,” Williams continued. “I thought we had a great year and it was really fun…the most fun I've had playing basketball, especially playing with that group of guys.”
The Thunder vastly improved this season under the guidance of head coach Mark Daigneault, who was cited as the Coach of the Year. They made the playoffs as the number one seed after missing the playoffs in the previous three seasons. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became an All-Star selection this season, backstopped by the likes of rookie Chet Holmgren and third-year man Josh Giddey.
