Tag: Jalen Williams

Player grades: Jalen Williams hits game-winner in 2024 Rising Stars challenge

Player grades for the 3 Thunder players who participated in the 2024 Rising Stars challenge.

INDIANAPOLIS — Crossing the ball between his legs, Jalen Williams pulled up for the deep 3-pointer to clinch the Rising Stars win for Jalen Rose’s squad.

The game-clinching basket capped off an impressive two-game outing for Williams and Chet Holmgren. All three 2024 Rising Stars challenge matchups featured an Oklahoma City Thunder player.

“We were up a good amount of points to where if I missed, it didn’t matter,” Williams said on his game-winner. “… I fake ran a stack play so they can go under and I can shoot a three. I don’t know if the team knows that’s what I had intended but that’s what I was gonna do.”

Jalen Rose’s squad advanced to the finals following a tight 40-35 win over Tamika Catchings’ team in the semifinals. Williams had two points, three assists and three rebounds. Holmgren had five points on 2-of-4 shooting, three rebounds and one assist.

Meanwhile, Pau Gasol’s squad suffered a 41-36 loss in the semifinals to Detlef Schrempf’s roster. It was an upset as Schrempf’s roster was G League players and two-way players. Cason Wallace contributed with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting and one assist.

Rose came out victorious in the finals over Schrempf, 26-13. Williams had five points on 2-of-3 shooting, three assists and two rebounds. He shot 1-of-2 from 3. Holmgren had two points, two rebounds, one block and one steal.

It’s a great opportunity to come out here and kind of just mingle with the guys,” Williams said on the Rising Stars. “It’s a unique platform, you play with people you probably wouldn’t play with. You’re playing in front of teammates you wouldn’t play with. It’s a good time to kind of play free.

“Win or lose, it doesn’t really matter. Shows what guys can do and kind of puts guys on the map as well.”

Holmgren added: “It’s a great opportunity to have fun and also put out a good product for the fans. Throughout the season, you don’t get a chance to talk to a lot of these guys. There were definitely some dudes who I thought, I don’t rock with this dude. He’s kind of weird. He be mean mugging. Then you get in the locker room with them, and they’re super cool.”

Let’s look at the Rising Stars challenge grades for the Thunder’s three players.

NBA Rising Stars 2024: Bennedict Mathurin unanimously named MVP to lead Team Jalen to title

Pacers sophomore Bennedict Mathurin was unanimously named MVP of the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game to lead Team Jalen to the championship.

Indiana Pacers sophomore Bennedict Mathurin on Friday was unanimously named MVP of the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game to lead Team Jalen to the championship in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mathurin produced 18 points in the opening game as Team Jalen defeated Team Tamika. He had four points, two assists and one steal in a 26-13 win in the final over Team Detlef, which consisted of seven of the top players in the G League.

While Mathurin did the bulk of the scoring in the semifinal round, Dereck Lively II had six points and Jordan Hawkins and Jalen Williams each chipped in five points in the final. Williams drained the game-winning 3-pointer to end it for Team Jalen.

The event featured four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament for the third straight year. The two semifinal games were played to a target score of 40, and the championship game was played to a target score of 25.

The pool of players for the game consisted of 11 rookies, 10 second-year players and seven players from the G League. The players from the NBA were selected by assistant coaches and the players from the G League were selected by the league office.

The four teams were coached by Hall of Famer Pau Gasol, Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings and former Pacers standouts Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf, who led the G League team.

Here is how the teams performed in the event.

2024 Rising Stars practice: What Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace said

2024 Rising Stars practice: What Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace said.

INDIANAPOLIS — The NBA held their 2024 Rising Stars challenge media availability on Friday.

During the event, the Oklahoma City Thunder had the most representatives among NBA teams with Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace.

The trio has been part of an impressive Thunder (37-17) that sits a game back from first place in the Western Conference standings heading into the All-Star break.

Holmgren and Williams are part of the same squad with Jalen Rose while Wallace will be on Pau Gasol’s team. The full explanation and rosters of the four-team single-elimination tournament can be read here.

Here’s a quick recap of what Holmgren, Williams and Wallace had to say as they prepare for the weekend festivities.

2024 Rising Stars: Rosters, broadcast info and how the 4-team tournament works

2024 Rising Stars: Rosters, broadcast info and how the 4-team tournament works.

INDIANAPOLIS — The 2024 Rising Stars challenge will be held on Friday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. CT in Gainbridge Fieldhouse on TNT.

The four-team single-elimination tournament features seven-player rosters. Twenty-one players are NBA rookies and second-year players while the remaining seven are G League players and two-way players.

The three NBA rosters were drafted by Paul Gasol, Jalen Rose and Tamika Catchings. The G League roster will be coached by Detlef Schrempf.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had three players represented for the event — the most for any team. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are on the same squad for Rose while Wallace is on Gasol’s squad.

The semifinals will be played to a target score of 40 points. The final will be played to a target score of 25 points. The semifinal matchups are Rose vs. Catchings and Gasol vs. Schrempf.

Injury replacements include Vince Williams Jr., who is taking Dyson Daniel’s spot; Jeremy Sochan, who is taking Shaedon Sharpe’s spot; and Emoni Bates, who is taking Ron Holland’s spot.

Let’s look at all 28 participants and who they’ll play for.

Player grades: SGA, Jalen Williams total 65 points in Thunder’s 127-113 win over Magic

Player grades for the Thunder’s 127-113 win over the Magic.

Walking towards the perimeter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander suddenly made a quick turn and created enough space from Paolo Banchero with a mini-stepback to swish in the fading baseline jumper.

The All-Star starter then turned to the crowd and gestured for them to go home. The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the 2024 All-Star break on a high note after collecting a 127-113 win over the Orlando Magic.

“I thought it was a really focused effort, I thought the guys were really locked in,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault on the win. “After the start, (it) wasn’t great, other than that, stuck to the gameplan, hung in there through a couple of runs.”

After trailing by as many as 11 points in the opening frame, OKC cut it down to a one-point deficit following the first quarter.

The Thunder scored 29 points in the second frame to enter halftime with a 60-52 lead. OKC’s reserves did an excellent job surviving Gilgeous-Alexander’s first-half struggles.

Then in the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander turned it up and led the Thunder to a 32-point frame by accounting for 15 of those points. OKC entered the final frame with a 92-82 lead.

With Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench, the Thunder went on a massive 19-8 run in the final frame to build a double-digit lead. By the time Gilgeous-Alexander checked back in, OKC held a 16-point lead with a little over six minutes left.

After leading by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter, Orlando went on a 14-4 run in the final minutes to cut OKC’s lead to as little as 11 points, but alas, there wasn’t enough time to make a serious push.

Jalen Williams headlined the Thunder’s 35-point final frame. He scored an eye-popping 17 points in 10 minutes with slices to the basket as Orlando struggled to limit him.

Overall, the Thunder shot 55% from the field and went 13-of-32 (40.6%) from 3. They went a nearly perfect 22-of-24 from the free-throw line. They dished out 28 assists on 46 baskets.

This was an impressive offensive showing considering the Magic have the fourth-best defensive rating in the league. OKC got plenty of quality looks and looked in rhythm for the entire contest.

The duo of Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams once again led the way for OKC with 65 combined points on 55% shooting — Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and five assists and Williams had 33 points on 18 shots.

Chet Holmgren also contributed with 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.

Meanwhile, the Magic shot 45% from the field and went 11-of-36 (30.6%) from 3. They went 20-of-25 from the free-throw line. They had 29 assists on 41 baskets.

Banchero had 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, 10 assists and six rebounds. Wendell Carter Jr. had 22 points and six rebounds. Jalen Suggs scored 17 points and shot 4-of-12 from 3. Franz Wagner was limited to 15 points on 16 shots.

The Thunder enter their week-plus long break with an impressive road win over a hot Magic squad that had won five of their last six contests entering tip.

OKC managed to play spoiler for Shaq’s jersey retirement ceremony and enter the All-Star break a clean 20 games above .500, which is the fifth time it’s happened in franchise history.

“I thought we ran through the finish line with these last two games,” Daigneault said. “That was evident tonight. Now got to take a deep breath, put some gas back in the tank and get ready for the stretch.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Post-trade deadline 2023-24 Oklahoma City Thunder roster

Post-trade deadline 2023-24 Oklahoma City Thunder roster.

Following the NBA trade deadline, the Oklahoma City Thunder have their roster set for the rest of the way in the 2023-24 season.

After a few transactions, the Thunder are back to having a full 18-player roster — 15 standard players and three two-way players.

The starters will remain the same in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.

Meanwhile, the bench was improved with the addition of Gordon Hayward. The Thunder also brought in Bismack Biyombo as a veteran center who can provide spark minutes off the bench.

Here’s an updated look at the 2023-24 Thunder roster following the trade deadline:

Player grades: SGA, Jalen Williams tally 70 points in Thunder’s 127-113 win over Kings

Player grades for the Thunder’s 127-113 win over Kings.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Tapping the brakes, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sent Keon Ellis sliding for the sidestep 3-pointer. The highlight outside shot capped off a much-needed afternoon for OKC.

The Oklahoma City Thunder bounced back with a 127-113 win over the Sacramento Kings. It snapped a two-game losing streak for them and marked their first win over Sacramento since Nov. 2021.

“I thought we were just a lot more edgy today than we were yesterday,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s not about responding to one game, it’s certainly is about us recognizing where our standards are and getting the car back on the road when we’re not up to par.”

After a slow start plagued the Thunder against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, they emphasized getting off to a strong start for the second day of this back-to-back.

The Thunder led 29-27 following the first frame. At halftime, that lead grew to 67-57. A mammoth 22-6 run in the third quarter by OKC saw it enter the final frame leading by 17 points and totaled 100 points in the first three frames.

To start the fourth quarter, the Kings made one last push to make it a single-digit contest. A 20-10 run by Sacramento chopped OKC’s lead to seven points with a little over seven minutes left.

This proved to be the closest the Kings would get the rest of the way as Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams shut the door of a comeback attempt with elite shot-making.

The guard-wing duo combined for 70 points on 61% shooting. Overall, OKC shot 54% from the field and 13-of-27 (48.1%) from 3. They dished out 30 assists on 46 baskets.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points while Williams tallied a nearly 32-point triple-double. Chet Holmgren contributed with 14 points and four blocks. Lu Dort contributed with 17 points and stout defense.

“Those guys are advantage creators,” Daigneault said on Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams. “Shai tonight, I thought they got really aggressive with him with double teams, which volunteers an advantage. It allows to get the ball ahead of the defense. I thought we had good attacks off of that for the most part.”

Meanwhile, the Kings shot 49% from the field and went 16-of-42 (38.1%) from 3. They had 32 assists on 44 baskets. Six Kings players scored double-digit points.

Domantas Sabonis led the way with a triple-double of 21 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds. Malik Monk scored 26 points and went 6-of-10 from 3. Keegan Murray had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

De’Aaron Fox was limited to 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting and five assists. Kevin Huerter had four points on 2-of-7 shooting.

“Just make it tough for him,” Dort said on limiting Fox. “Especially after a game like yesterday where I feel like I didn’t do my job right.”

This was a nice palate cleanser for the Thunder after their disaster loss to the Mavericks on Saturday. OKC snapped an eight-game losing streak to Sacramento in a contest it controlled for the entire day.

“We came out really good today,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think it set the tone for the rest of the night. We played to our identity from the job.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Recap: OKC Thunder’s Friday practice (Feb. 9)

Here’s a quick recap of the Thunder’s Friday practice:

The Oklahoma City Thunder held practice on Friday as they welcomed in veteran wing Gordon Hayward a day after acquiring him in the NBA trade deadline.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and starter Jalen Williams spoke about what Hayward brings to the table along with saying goodbye to Tre Mann, Vasilije Micic and Davis Bertans in the deal.

Daigneault also provided a critical injury update on Hayward and when he could make his debut for the Thunder.

Here’s a quick recap of the Thunder’s Friday practice as they enjoy the last day of their three-day break before traveling on the road to take on the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.

Player grades: Poor second half causes Thunder’s 124-117 loss to Jazz

Player grades for the Thunder’s 124-117 loss to the Jazz.

Receiving the handoff pass from Walker Kessler, Lauri Markannen capped off a strong second half with a left-wing 3-pointer to extinguish any hopes of an OKC comeback.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s poor second half led to their 124-117 loss to the Utah Jazz.

“I thought we had a pretty steady first half. I give Utah credit, they showed great resolve,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the loss. “I thought they played with great effort and physicality and were able to get the game.

“I thought the glass was a huge issue and I thought the paint was a huge issue. I thought the physicality they showed in the paint… was very uncharacteristic of us on both ends.”

After winning the first two matchups, it looked like OKC would make it 3-for-3 early on. The Thunder built a 33-28 lead following the first quarter. It added to its lead in the second frame to enter halftime with a 68-61 advantage.

In the third quarter, the Thunder eventually created a game-high 12-point lead before the Jazz began to chip away. Utah outscored OKC in the third quarter, 35-24.

The Jazz proceeded to go on a game-altering 21-3 run in the second half that helped them enter the final frame with a 96-92 lead. The Thunder shook off Utah’s run and eventually tied it up at 109 apiece.

A Jalen Williams 3-pointer gave OKC a one-point lead with a little under four minutes left before Utah rattled off five consecutive points to quickly put the Thunder into a four-point hole.

The Thunder couldn’t hit timely baskets as the Jazz continued to add to their lead and ultimately finished the game on a decisive 12-4 run.

Overall, the Thunder shot 48% from the field and went 19-of-37 (51.4%) from 3. They went a costly 12-of-18 from the free-throw line. They also distributed 26 assists on 43 baskets. OKC was led by a trio of 20-point scorers in the loss.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander totaled 28 points but on 22 shots. After a three-game absence, Williams had 26 points, five assists and five rebounds. Chet Holmgren scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

The bench production was a major difference-maker for the contest, as OKC was outscored by Utah, 45-23, in that department. The Jazz also outscored the Thunder inside of the paint, 60-36.

The Jazz shot 52% from the field and went 14-of-35 (40%) from 3. They went 18-of-20 from the free-throw line. They also tallied 29 assists on 46 baskets. Utah had six players score double-digit points.

Markannen scored a game-high 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting and had 11 rebounds. This included 22 points in the second half to lead the Jazz to the comeback win. He continues to play like an All-Star and performances like these explain Utah’s high asking price for his services.

John Collins contributed with 22 points and nine rebounds. Rookie Keyonte George had 16 points and five assists, including hitting a pair of timely 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

“Those were tough shots,” Daigneault said on Utah’s final frame. “Credit Markannen and George, the shots they made. I thought (Kris) Dunn made some big ones. The shot-making part of it goes in and out… I thought they just got the more stable sources of offense tonight.”

Playing in Utah always provides its challenges, especially with how scrappy the Jazz are this season. The Thunder had chances late to win the season series but couldn’t come up with important baskets. Alas, such is life in the NBA.

The Thunder will now enjoy a rare three-day break as the trade deadline nears. By the time OKC plays again, perhaps it’ll welcome new additions to its roster for the stretch run.

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

2024 Rising Stars challenge: Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace rosters revealed

2024 Rising Stars challenge: Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace rosters revealed.

The 2024 Rising Stars challenge rosters were drafted on Tuesday by head coaches Pau Gasol, Jalen Rose and Tamika Catchings.

The 21-player pool consisted of rookies and second-year players was divided by seven per three rosters. An additional seven-player roster will be involved with a fourth team made up of G League players.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had three players make the pool in Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace — the most for a single team.

Holmgren and Williams will remain on the same squad as Rose drafted them with the No. 3 and No. 4 picks respectively in the snake draft format.

Meanwhile, Wallace was drafted with the No. 18 pick by Gasol. The full rosters can be viewed below:

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The Rising Stars challenge will be part of the NBA’s weekend festivities in Indiana from Feb. 16-18. The tournament will take place on Friday, Feb. 16.

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