Jalen Williams’ “unpleasant” response to the Thunder’s rematch win against the Cavs

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams he noticed a difference in his team’s approach against Cleveland Cavaliers. After a 129-122 Thunder loss to the Cavs snapped a 15-game winning streak, Oklahoma City dominated its opponent eight days later at the Pike Center in a 134-114 victory where Cleveland never stood a chance.

A critical 30-2 run by Williams and the Thunder in the first half kept the opposition at bay the rest of the night. For Jalen, the key to Oklahoma City’s approach was its defense, a stark contrast to his team’s efforts in Cleveland. After Thursday’s win, Williams discussed the difference.

“We just tried to make them as uncomfortable as possible, playing defense,” Williams said. “I thought we set the tone, looking back when we first played them, we just had a lot of failed coverage. When you give that to a team, they get a rhythm and it’s hard to stop them. So, I thought we did a good job of just coming together as a team defensively, not having as many of those defensive lapses, and making them really have to work for possessions.”

The Cavs’ 13 turnovers in the first half led to a critical momentum shift for the Thunder. Along with Oklahoma City connecting on 11 of 19 3-pointers and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 26 points before halftime, the Cavs faced a daunting 75-49 deficit to start the second half.

The Thunder’s defense held All-Star Donovan Mitchell to eight points on 3-of-15 shooting. And after Jarrett Allen (25 points) and Evan Mobley (21 points) combined for 46 points in the Cavs’ 129-122 victory last week, Mobley finished with five points on 2-of-7 shooting, while Allen added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 40 points and eight assists. Lou Dort scored 22 points, including six 3-pointers, and Jaylen Williams finished with 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Thunder.

Mark Daigneault reveals the catalyst for the Thunder’s 32-2 run against the Cavs

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault discussed what led to the 32-2 run in the first half of Thursday’s win against the Cavs. His team’s defensive approach was critical, as was Daigneault addressed his impact in contrast to last week’s 129-122 loss in Cleveland.

“We were stacking the stations; we turned them over. “Great activity, and I thought we just handled the point of attack a lot better tonight,” Daigneault said. “We were able to numb that part of the game, and last week we were right behind the ball the whole game.” And really, they had their way in terms of touching the paint against us and rooting for us on individual defense. That didn’t happen to us much.”

The Thunder will face the Mavericks on Friday.