With the Oklahoma City Thunder trailing the Chicago Bulls by 14 with four minutes left, forward Kenrich Williams jumped into a passing lane, got the steal and finished at the other end of the court.
He’s defined his short Thunder tenure by his hustle and his attitude. In the 127-125 comeback win against the Bulls, this type of play earned him a spot in the closing lineup over forward Darius Bazley.
“He was awesome tonight,” head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Really, really good. He made a lot of really important plays in the game.”
Williams played a season-high 27 minutes, which included time down the stretch in the fourth quarter and overtime.
He had 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting, five rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
Not all of Williams’ plays show up on the box score. Much of his impact comes from hustle plays and being in the right position. One such example was the final possession of regulation, when he had the awareness to switch down to the post and play a man down low as Zach LaVine’s shot went up.
“I take pride in just getting a stop. Especially when the game’s on the line,” Williams said. “That’s what I’m on the floor to do. I’m on the floor to get stops, do the little things for the team to help the team win.”
Great defense by the Thunder on the final possession to force overtime! #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/sjPJKM3LC4
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) January 16, 2021
“K-Rich is a dog,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He does all the little things. And a lot like Lu (Dort), makes winning basketball plays on both ends of the floor and plays the right way. Guys that are as selfless as he is, they ultimately help winning no matter where they go or what situation they’re in. It’s the way basketball’s supposed to be played.”
Williams was on the floor for Bazley, who has struggled as of late. Over his last six games, he is averaging just 6.6 points on 26% shooting. Bazley also may have been hampered on Friday from an ankle sprain he suffered Wednesday.
Daigneault made sure to emphasize that the move was not made as a way to call out Bazley.
“I thought Baze really fought. I really do. He was really trying to turn it. He obviously didn’t play great in the first half, he didn’t play great to start the second half. We tried to just light a spark with K-Rich,” the coach said.
“It wasn’t a slight toward Baze, we went back to him later in the third and the fourth, and I thought he was really fighting.”
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Bazley was in for the final defensive possession of the fourth quarter and helped get the stop. He didn’t play in overtime.
Instead of following along with the rebuilding mantra of playing the guys like Bazley in closing time to get them experience, Daigneault elected to go with the athlete who was simply playing better.
His decision worked, and with a 6-6 record, OKC has yet to look like that typical tanking team.
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