OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams’ goal to increase his free throw attempts in 2024-25 is paying off, as the proof was exemplified in Sunday’s win against the Denver Nuggets. Williams finished with 26 points on 7-of-14 field goal attempts, including 2-of-4 from deep, and connected on 10-of-11 free-throw attempts. His 11 free-throw attempts are a new career-high.
After the win, a reporter informed Williams of his new career high, which ignited a smile and a fist pump from the first-year All-Star before he talked about his process for reaching this new career milestone.
“A lot of it was not worrying about the officiating, understanding their human; they’re gonna miss calls same way I’m gonna miss shots,” Williams said. “I kind of just let up off of it. It’s just about playing with force, being able to play through contact. I thought I did a good job finishing whether or not I’m getting hit. I think that’s been a big one. I think I’m just getting more and more reps in figuring out how to draw fouls. I think I pumped fake and got somebody in the air today.
“I think a lot of it is just playing through contact,” Williams added. “And if I get fouled, I get fouled. And [today] I thought I had a pretty good process of it.”
The Thunder scored a season-high 41 fourth-quarter points to seal a 127-103 win against the Nuggets. Thunder’s Jalen Williams scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half. All-Star and MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 40 points against the league’s reigning MVP in All-Star Nikola Jokic.
Chet Holmgren highlights Thunder’s new approach vs. Nuggets
Thunder forward Chet Holmgren is adjusting to playing alongside Isaiah Hartenstein this season, and facing Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic was a change from not having to guard the league’s MVP.
Holmgren is used to facing Jokic one-on-one, but with Hartenstein defending Nikola for most of the game, Chet settled into his new position as power forward.
“I’m still kind of learning playing alongside another big,” Holmgren said. “Last year, not only against Denver, we’ve never really had a different look than me at the five pretty much against anybody. We didn’t last year. So, it’s definitely something new. There’s a learning curve, and we’ll continue to work at it. But I really think it opens up a lot for us.”
Holmgren finished with 14 points on 6-of-10 attempts, eight rebounds, and four blocks in Sunday’s impressive win against the Nuggets at the Paycom Center.
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