His offense was stagnant, his shooting was unreliable, and he was questionable as the Thunder's second option. Jaylen Williams' play all season has suddenly been subdued in this series against the Mavericks, negatively impacting Oklahoma City's scoring production.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's self-creation isn't very reliable, especially when the role players surrounding him can't hit open threes off the kickout, but to add insult to injury, Williams' self-creation That inability to convert and remaining hesitant to convert the right plays is holding the Thunder's offense back.
Statistically speaking, he continued to post numbers relatively close to his regular season averages except for efficiency, averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists over the series, but his mistakes — shooting 31.3% from three and 40.8% overall, combined with 1.4 turnovers per night — more than outweighed his efforts.
The focused Dallas defense is one of the best offenses and one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the regular season, and its length and ability to muddy the lanes makes Williams, along with the rest of the line They continued to give what was one of their best teams in the regular season as they upset them.
This isn't to say Williams hasn't had an impressive postseason. But in the second round, his inefficiency and inability to turn on really hampered the Thunder's offense. And in Game 5, it was very prevalent. Dallas, who scored just 92 points on the night, held the Thunder to less than 100 points for the first time in the series and used that to rally in front of their home crowd in Oklahoma City and take the key win to take the series 3-2. took the lead. .
Williams' responsibility over the course of the season has been far greater than he is expected to be in this round, and if he is unable to return, his uncommon inefficiency could be a key piece that pushes the Thunder over the edge. be.
But as we've seen throughout this season, this young Oklahoma City team tends to thrive under pressure. With their backs against the wall, they entered Game 4 looking to tie the series. Game 6, now back in Dallas, is of course a win-or-go-home situation. Nothing appears to indicate the Thunder will extend the series to seven games on Saturday night. However, considering the Thunder made several late comebacks to reach the playoffs, it would be unwise to rule them out completely.
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