Sunday Bulletin: The Mavs loss and mounting expectations
Up first, a preview of tonight's action:
Pregame Primer: OKC (34-7) vs. BKN (14-28)
Tip-off: 6:00 PM | Broadcast: Local/League Pass
3⚡Big⚡Things⚡
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⚡Pod Preview
⚡Lights, Cam, action
The latest buzz is that the Thunder are not actually interested in one of the best players on the trade market (more on that later). We've been arguing about Cam Johnson as a good or bad target for OKC for weeks, so we may as well over-analyze how he plays tonight.
⚡SGA back, JDub out
Shai is back after just one game absent thanks to a wrist sprain, but Jalen Williams will miss his first game of the season with a hip strain.
Prediction: OKC 110 BKN 94
The Sunday Bulletin: JDub's Mounting Expectations
The current national conversation around Jalen Williams is the familiar "is he an All-Star yet?" question (answer: yes), but there has been some alarm in Thunder world over an assessment of Williams made more glaring on Friday night. In a tough loss to OKC's increasingly bitter rivals in Dallas without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the lineup, the following was confirmed: the 6'6 Thunder guard is not excellent enough, in his third season, to be the primary playmaker and starting center for a historically great team and defense. So sue him.
When Shai was scratched, that left JDub and the Thunder without its MVP, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Ajay Mitchell (essentially all of OKC's other offensive initiators and interior protectors). The Thunder were overmatched, and the Mavericks let up after going up big in the second half. That's a nightly occurrence in the NBA that OKC fans haven't had to experience in this blowout-happy Thunder season. To Oklahoma City's credit, they can and did claw their way back when a team like the Mavericks eases up with relentless defensive intensity and not just hot shooting. It ended up close, but Williams wasn't brilliant (19 points on 7-22 FGA, 1-5 3PA, 4-8 FTA) with his opportunity for heroics.
JDub is doing tough work. When shouldering the complete load without SGA or Hartenstein, he's been a little Russ-like as the battering ram leading an inelegant, transition-reliant offense. If he gets calls and/or has his cotton midrange shot falling while the Thunder defense mucks up the other team's play, he looks like a force of nature. When things are not going well, the non-Shai Thunder look ugly. The fear about this reality is that, since Thunder backup units haven't thrived with Williams at the helm, crucial minutes in the postseason with Shai on the bench will be an Achilles heel for Oklahoma City's title hopes.
That's crazy talk.
