Thunder forward Jalen Williams' honest admission to Mavericks' stifling defense

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Jalen Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a 20-point deficit in a 106-98 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Head coach Mark Daigneault delivered his honest take on the loss before Williams talked about what facing the Mavericks' defense without All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor.

Gilgeous-Alexander was ruled out during pregame due to a sore wrist, which shifted most of the defense onto Williams. After the loss, he spoke about what that was like Friday night.

"Tonight was probably the heaviest that it's been… different coverages tonight, which was good," Williams said. "It allowed me to read the game and figure the game out. So, I'm definitely not going to take those opportunities for granted."

Williams struggled to find his offensive rhythm against the Mavs, scoring four points in the first half without converting a single field goal. Jalen went 1-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-6 from the free-throw line before finishing with 19 points, six assists, and five rebounds in Friday's loss.

"Just trying to find my teammates. A lot of it was, I wouldn't say new, just more of it," Williams added. "Obviously, not having Shai out there, they kind of figured they were going to throw a lot of stuff like that out there. Just trying to learn and understand the coverages where I need to throw the ball and how I can still kind of pick my spots and be aggressive."

Jalen Williams on facing the #Mavs defense without SGA:

"Tonight was probably the heaviest that it's been… different coverages tonight, which was good. It allowed me to read the game and figure the game out. So, I'm definitely not going to take those opportunities for granted" pic.twitter.com/5eY6MksONX

— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) January 18, 2025

Thunder’s Jalen Williams looked at the experience as a learning moment for the third-year forward. In a rare absence for Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed only seven games last season, it was a big spot for Jalen, facing off against the team that eliminated the Thunder 4-2 in the Western Conference semifinals in last year's playoffs.

Mark Daigneault's honest take on Thunder's loss vs Mavericks

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was pleased by his team's second-half performance. Despite it coming in a losing effort, Daigneault had plenty of positive takeaways.

"Obviously, [they] did a really good job out of halftime," Daigneault said. "After what was a rough second quarter, or end of the second quarter, I thought we played a pretty good game outside of that six-minute stretch where they really opened the game up. But we came out of halftime, made that a game, and got it within striking distance very quickly. And able to take a one-point game into the fourth, which, with where we were at halftime, is all you can ask for."

The Thunder will host the Nets on Sunday.

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