Jalen Williams not only saved the Oklahoma City Thunder from the verge of defeat against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. He also made history in the process.
Williams, who drained the game-winning putback with 0.5 second left to power the Thunder to the 107-106 win, finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists. It's actually his third 25-5-5 game in his rookie season, putting him in elite company in franchise history.
Apparently, only three Thunder rookies ever have at least three games with a 25-5-5 stat line, per NBA History. The other two? It's no other than Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. That's not a bad company to be in at all considering that both KD and Westbrook went on to become NBA MVPs.
With that said, Williams is certainly off to a great start in his Thunder career.
Jalen Williams, the 12th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, has put on a Rookie of the Year-caliber season with the Thunder. In the 17 games he has played since the All-Star break and prior to Wednesday's game, he has averaged 19.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals. He has been a big reason why Oklahoma City is able to stay in contention for a Play-In spot, and he could very well be a major factor in their bid to make it to the postseason.
With his latest heroics, the Thunder remain in the 10th seed and extend their lead over the 11th-seeded Dallas Mavericks. With the way he and the whole team are playing as well, it doesn't seem like another team can overtake them.
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