OKLAHOMA CITY — Sneaking his way underneath the basket, Jalen Williams leaped for the offensive rebound following Josh Giddey’s miss and laid in the game-winning bucket.
The team and fans went wild as they knew they escaped another demoralizing loss.
The SGA-less Oklahoma City Thunder avoided two consecutive upset losses by defeating the Detroit Pistons, 107-106. With the last-second win, the Thunder owns sole possession of the 10th seed due to the Dallas Mavericks’ loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
“I thought the response of our players coming off of a disappointing performance last night was right where it needed to be,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “This team’s made a habit of that all year. We’re not perfect but these guys do a great job at refocusing and getting the car back on the road and I thought they did that tonight.”
Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who missed his second consecutive game with an ankle sprain, Williams made up for his absence with 27 efficient points.
“I think his improvement has been a combination of him learning and the game slowing down for him,” Daigneault said about Williams.
Playing against a Pistons team missing several key players, it was a back-and-forth matchup between both squads in a game that saw 11 lead changes and 11 ties. Neither team led by more than eight points.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Thunder held a four-point lead over the Pistons. The Thunder grew that to a 97-90 lead with 6:03 left.
It felt like OKC finally made the run to close out the much-needed win, but the Pistons immediately went on a 10-3 run to tie the game at 100 apiece with 3:37 left.
The Pistons eventually retook the lead off of a Cory Joseph 3 late in the game with 14.1 seconds left. This set the scene for Williams’ eventual game-winner as the Thunder trailed by one point.
The Thunder finished the game with five double-digit scorers, as it was an evenly-distributed offensive performance with Gilgeous-Alexander out.
Playing a much better brand of defense, the Thunder forced the Pistons to turn the ball over 18 times, which lead to a 30-10 scoring advantage on points off of turnovers.
The depleted Pistons — who were 1-17 in their previous 18 games — were led by lottery rookie Jaden Ivey, who finished with 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting, six rebounds and five assists. He fouled out late in the fourth quarter after Jaylin Williams absorbed his third drawn charge of the night.
It was a massive moment as the Pistons were without their best available player for the final two minutes.
“I was just playing, that’s something I do,” Williams said on his drawn charge. “The opportunity was there. I just took a charge and it worked out.”
James Wiseman also collected a 14-point and 11-rebound double-double. Former Thunder friend Eugene Omoruyi had 14 points and five rebounds. The Pistons’ bench outscored the Thunder’s, 49-23.
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
Jalen Williams: A+
It would be a disservice to start grades with anybody else.
This might be a little melodramatic, but there’s a strong argument to be made that Jalen Williams saved the Thunder’s Play-In odds with his putback game-winner.
If the Thunder would’ve lost, then its margin of error would remain razor thin. But with a Thunder win and a Mavericks’ loss, the former now holds what is essentially a two-game lead over the latter due to owning the tiebreaker.
“Definitely kinda a lucky-kinda play,” Williams said on his shot. “… (Dort) actually crashed and kinda took my man and I ended up taking a layup, so that’s pretty cool.”
Following the putback, Williams was lobbed by both his teammates and fans in the thrilling win.
“Throughout all that, some fan grabbed me,” Williams said. “That’s when I was like, ‘Oh OK, I’m really close to the crowd.'”
It was a perfect way to cap off Williams’ impressive performance where he finished with 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting, eight rebounds and six assists. He feasted inside the paint, scoring 18 points on 9-of-17 shooting.
With it being a close game in the fourth quarter, Williams led the team with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting as he did his best SGA impersonation hitting clutch shots.
The game-winning shot is just the cherry on top of one of Williams’ best nights of the season.
“Those are just blood and guts, will plays,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said about Williams’ shot.
The 21-year-old continues to make a late push for Rookie of the Year and hitting game-winning buckets to keep your team in the playoff race is certainly a nice addition to his resume.
The precise put back! 💪 pic.twitter.com/ochgTJUfrp
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2023
Get it and GO! 🚦 pic.twitter.com/Ogirg0CiAL
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2023
Lu Dort: B+
With the Thunder needing extra scoring due to Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence, Lu Dort also picked up some of the load. He finished with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting and went 3-of-7 from 3.
Dort also laid down what is probably the best dunk of his career when he posterized Marvin Bagley III.
After a sluggish outing against the Charlotte Hornets, OKC’s energy was much better against the Pistons under similar circumstances. This was displayed when Dort won the jump ball over Omoruyi — who has two inches on him — that led to William’s game-winner.
“There’s an aura to him competitively that’s hard to put your finger on,” Daigneault said. “He’s not a perfect player but he’s a ball of fire on both ends of the floor… He rises to competition. It’s just that simple and it’s contagious.”
Slicing the defense and finishing through contact! pic.twitter.com/JWC4ozkYyf
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2023
High flier! ✈️ pic.twitter.com/vZzbMwAErY
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2023
🤐🤐🤐 pic.twitter.com/en120arWE8
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2023
Aaron Wiggins: A+
After playing just 12 minutes in OKC’s loss to the Hornets, Aaron Wiggins provided a steady hand in this critical win.
In 32 minutes off the bench, Wiggins finished with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting and went a perfect 3-of-3 from 3. This included 13 first-half points.
With how tight Daigneault ran his rotation — only six players played double-digit minutes, with each of them playing at least 32 — the sense of urgency was evident to collect this win and Wiggins provided bench scoring.
“He could’ve been a little sharper last night, to be honest with you,” Daigneault said about Wiggins. “I thought his response was really, really good and we need that from him.”
The kiss off the glass! 🤌@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/Kiok4BwuEh
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2023
Hold up, LET 21 COOK 🔥@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/xh2jxXVuTI
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) March 30, 2023
Hot from the same spot! 💦 pic.twitter.com/hkvwTG0rlb
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2023
Getting downhill in a hurry! 💨 pic.twitter.com/1uf4DLqbhE
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2023
Josh Giddey: B-
Josh Giddey turned in another solid performance for the Thunder as he finished with 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting, seven assists and five rebounds.
The 20-year-old continues to have a decent floor to his game.
The biggest play involving Giddey happened in the final seconds. Trailing by one with 13.1 seconds left, Giddey had two separate chances to give the Thunder the late lead but missed both attempts.
After the second miss, Williams hounded down the offensive board and had the game-winning putback.
IYKYK 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/ljEqDQ5PLc
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 30, 2023
