Jaylin Williams stamps presence in West Finals in OKC's Game 3 win over Spurs
· Yahoo Sports
Moving to the right-wing spot, Jaylin Williams placed his hands up for the ball. Eventually, it went his way. As Luke Kornet went for the desperate closeout, the 23-year-old swished in the outside jumper right before the shot-clock expiration. Not just that, but he also drew a four-point play to demoralize San Antonio even further.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder somehow, someway picked up a 123-108 Game 3 win over the San Antonio Spurs. They're back in the driver's seat with a 2-1 series lead in the 2026 Western Conference Finals.
Williams finished with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting, five rebounds and one assist. He shot 5-of-6 from 3 and went 3-of-3 on free throws. He also had two steals.
Continuing the theme of Thunder role players stepping up, we saw Williams stamp his presence in this Western Conference Finals. Last game, it was Isaiah Hartenstein's moment in the sun. This game, it was OKC's backup center who helped put this away with an out-of-body experience.
The Spurs' defensive strategy has been to sell out on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and live with the results of the rest. It helped them get four of five wins in the regular season. But after two playoff losses, they may need to rethink their strategy. Williams was a constant catch-and-shoot threat throughout the night.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has seen Williams grow up firsthand. From second-round flyer to a legitimate weapon for the NBA's deepest bench. OKC's reserves scored a franchise record 76 points as it was Gilgeous-Alexander and friends who boosted them to the road victory.
"He's the ultimate compete-together player. His intangibles are through the roof. He's an unbelievable team guy. He's always inside the team. He is really the glue inside our locker room. Even a guy like McCain, J-Will's one of the first guys that always pulls guys into the team and into the club," Daigneault said about Williams. "But there's one thing to be a team guy. He's also a badass competitor. He leans into the competition. He's not afraid."
Williams had 14 points in the first half. Along with the other reserves, he helped the Thunder get out of their quick 15-point hole. The combination of Gilgeous-Alexander and friends was the right lineup to go with. The offense looked smoother and faster. And on defense, things were at an adequate level. Even if it wasn't the shutdown rim protection we're used to. He took on the Victor Wembanyama matchup with the right approach.
"I said this a lot last year in the playoff series that I played. I know I'm not going to play as many minutes as he is, so the minutes I'm out there, I'm trying to make his job as tough as I can make it, but it's fun," Williams said. "It's fun to be out there competing. It's fun to be out there doing the physicality. Those types of things. It's just a fun competitive matchup."
The Thunder continue to lean on their depth. Especially with injuries piling up. Williams' spacing helped open up the floor for them. The Spurs were left scrambling as their defense was sliced through. Goes to show you truly don't know how the NBA playoffs will shape out. The 23-year-old had mostly been sitting outside of the rotation through three rounds. And then randomly stepped up big time to get the super-important win.
"You just have a bunch of guys that are willing to do whatever the team needs. Unluckily, we've dealt with a lot of injuries throughout the year, but it's built us as a team," Williams said. "It's built us as players to be ready for the moment, be ready when the name is called. You have a bunch of guys that's willing to do whatever it takes. If that's scoring, that's scoring. If that's rebound and play defense, regardless of what it is. Just have a lot of guys that are unselfish and want to win games."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Jaylin Williams stamps presence in West Finals in OKC's Game 3 win over Spurs