The Oklahoma City Thunder are one game away from reaching the second round of the NBA Playoffs thanks to their second consecutive dominant performance against the New Orleans Pelicans. Where the first game was a nail-biter in the West’s 1-8 matchup, Games 2 and 3 have been all Thunder, as they’ve been able to establish an offensive rhythm while maintaining an elite level of defensive intensity.
In New Orleans for Game 3, it was a balanced effort as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, and Jalen Williams all scored over 20 points in the win, Lu Dort hit four threes, and Chet Holmgren had four blocks, as OKC continues to be able to trust it will get strong contributions from its entire starting five. That’s been the case all year and is the byproduct of some incredible internal development from all five players over their time in Oklahoma City.
Williams is in his second season, and while he was terrific as a rookie, he has taken another leap in his sophomore campaign to be a legit No. 2 alongside SGA. He has forced the league to take notice of his play, and while he’s earned praise from prominent figures around the league for his play, not everyone is on board with his off-court style.
On Saturday, during halftime of Game 3 between the Celtics and Heat, they showed a clip from Williams’ postgame presser and Charles Barkley was in complete disbelief at Williams’ look.
Barkley is no stranger to bad looks, and his disgust at what he sees guys sometimes wear in the league comes from a place of wanting to help. He doesn’t want guys having to look back wondering what the hell they were wearing like he sometimes does, but his efforts often go in vain.
Chuck was in rare form overall on Saturday after Thunder-Pelicans, as he had Shaq rolling in laughter talking about how the Pelicans didn’t deserve to go to Cancun and should instead drive to Galveston, Texas to see “that dirty ass water.” So, really, Jalen got off easy here.