Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams Come up Short in Exciting 2023 Rising Stars Games

Team Joakim, featuring Williams and Giddey, reached the Rising Stars championship.

The Oklahoma City Thunder traveled well to All-Star weekend, as they had three total participants across the board. Two of those, Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey, played in the All-Star Rising Stars game.

Though the teams were drafted, both Williams and Giddey were selected to Team Joakim. They played in the second game of the two semi-finals games.

To start things off, Team Pau faced off against Team Deron to open the set of Rising Stars games. Team Pau won 40-25. The games were played to a target score of 40 points with no time limit.

Following that game, Team Joakim, Williams and Giddey’s team, took on Team Jason, composed of the top talent from the G League.

With seven players per team, two players would sit the bench to start the game. Williams was one of two to come off the bench as Giddey got the start.

Giddey’s passing was put to the test as Team Joakim got the first possession and ran a play where Giddey threw a lob to Evan Mobley. It was slightly off target.

Team Jason got the first points, but did so on free throws from Scoot Henderson. However, Team Joakim swung right back and started the game off with a 10-7 lead. Of the first five buckets, Giddey racked up three assists and a hockey assist.

After the first timeout, Giddey was mic’d up as Team Joakim held a 15-9 lead. The first question he had from the broadcast was his jacket.

“I had it custom made before the game,” Giddey said.

Williams also made his first appearance of the game after the timeout. His first bucket was a standing dunk, which is on brand.

Even after taking a seat, Giddey remained mic’d up on the TNT broadcast, though the topic of conversation was fashion related.

Giddey ended the first game with three points, three rebounds and six assists. He was also a +20 in his minutes played. To put that in perspective, they play up to a target score of 40 points. Williams added four points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Thunder showed out in Team Joakim’s first game and advanced to the championship game against Team Pau.

Team Joakim started off the championship game flat, but Quentin Grimes kept them in the game. However, there were barely any non-Grimes buckets being scored.

Both Giddey and Williams had two points, which combined for four of six non-Grimes points scored in the championship.

Jose Alvarado knocked down a big three to end the game, though, giving them a 25-20 win over Team Joakim.

The next Thunder action for All-Star weekend will be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the All-Star Game on Sunday night.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.