Oklahoma City Falls to Utah in Thrilling Back-and-Forth Matchup in Jalen Williams' Return

In Jalen Williams' first game back from injury, the Thunder fell to the Jazz on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma City came into Tuesday night with a surplus of players on the injury report.

Jalen Williams and Isaiah Joe namely being the ones who'd already missed a number of games – three to be exact – the Thunder's seemingly never-ending depth looked like it was going to take a hit versus the Jazz in Salt Lake City.

But, luckily for Oklahoma City, nearly every player listed as questionable was activated before Tuesday's game besides Joe (sternum) and Davis Bertans (knee).

Williams' return and the retainment of Oklahoma City's bench depth gave the Thunder a much higher chance of victory – though it wasn't quite enough to give them the edge, as Utah claimed a 124-117 win.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Williams all anchored Oklahoma City on the scoring front in the loss, as the trio combined for 76 points. Gilgeous-Alexander led the group with 28.

In Williams' first time on the floor in seven days, he individually produced 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting in 35 minutes.

Utah was paced by Lauri Markkanen, who had 33 points, five threes and 11 rebounds alongside John Collins and his 22 points and nine rebounds.

The Jazz jolted out to a quick start on their home floor with two early threes from Markkanen and Collin Sexton in the opening minutes, giving Utah its first lead over Oklahoma City in their three meetings this season.

They'd control the lead for the majority of the frame, but a late first-quarter surge from Gilgeous-Alexander saw him produce his customary double-digit performance throughout the first 12 minutes – having 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Ousmane Dieng was vital in his five minutes on the floor to begin the game as well, pacing the offense with a three and a conversion at the rim in the closing minutes of the quarter.

These two offensive efforts, paired with 10 points off turnovers, helped the Thunder claim the lead by the end of the frame, 33-28.

Dieng came into the second quarter with the same intention, drilling another trey and blocking rookie Keyonte George along the interior – a fairly physical contest – which is an enticing thing to see from the slight second-year guard.

Oklahoma City was able to extend its lead to as much as 10 throughout the second frame, but not before an impending Utah run. A cohesive scoring effort between Kelly Olynyk, Jordan Clarkson, Collins and Sexton helped them retake their lead with just over four minutes left in the half.

The Thunder's offensive adaptability and a tuned-up defensive effort always seem to subtly give the team quiet, extended leads by the end of quarters – which is exactly what happened near the end of the second.

A one-handed slam humming down the lane and a step-back jumper with less than 1:30 left in the half from Williams handed Oklahoma City a seven-point advantage to head into halftime.

Another big part of this lead stemmed from the Thunder pressuring the Jazz offense and excelling in transition, having 18 points off nine total takeaways. 

Coming out of the break shooting 58.7% from the field and 53.3% from three, the Thunder were on the cusp of breaking this game open. 

Holmgren must've felt this too, as the 21-year-old rookie caught fire flowing from an alley-oop to begin the third off a Williams lob, giving him the conviction to subsequently sink three 3-pointers in rhythm off the catch. 

And another alley-oop slam from the Williams-Holmgren connection, combined with a three from Gilgeous-Alexander, extended the Thunder lead to 12.

Though, a quick burst behind a raucous Delta Center saw Utah take the lead back from Oklahoma City down the stretch in the frame, completely erasing the Thunder's double-digit lead.

The fans fully engaged, momentum drove the Jazz to a 96-92 lead entering the fourth.

The contest started to appear as if the outcome might be dependent on the last few possessions before the Jazz seemed to feed off the momentum and give their lead some padding.

But, as we've seen plenty of this season, Oklahoma City maintained – controlling things to its speed, and letting Williams do his thing in the final frame.

Down by just a point with three minutes to play, the Thunder had to rally in order to close this one out on the road.

They couldn't quite carry out the task, as Utah fed off its electric crowd and wouldn't relinquish its late-game lead, bringing the Thunder to a 35-16 record on the year.

Oklahoma City will next travel to Dallas following a lengthy break to take on Luka Doncic and the Mavericks at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday.

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