Williams Leads the Way Despite Thunder Dropping Game to Rockets

Jalen Williams has been on a tear in the Summer League and that continued in his game against the Rockets on Saturday.

Chris Becker | Jul 10, 2022

Oklahoma City dropped another highly contested Summer League game on Saturday.

It was Oklahoma City’s first game in the Las Vegas Summer League and their first against the Houston Rockets. The Rockets bested the Thunder with a late push to take the 90-88 win.

Here are the top performers from the close contest.

Jalen Williams

Coming off a challenging seven-point performance, Jalen Williams once again was stellar for Oklahoma City.

The rookie lottery selection kept OKC in the game as the shooting from other young players struggled to find stride. Williams is fighting to be one of the first Thunder players off the bench in the regular season. Saturday will definitely help his case.

He shot 7-of-12 from the field with a team-high 15 points. Williams also grabbed five rebounds and two steals. Williams has been ultra-efficient for the Thunder in the Summer League and continues to show his amazing scoring ability, which he showcased at Santa Clara.

With other guards and rookies struggling to find any groove, Williams stepped up showing leadership ability and clutchness when needed. He also continued to showcase the reasons Sam Presti took him at No. 12 with his cuts and ability to finish at the rim.

Aaron Wiggins

Aaron Wiggins is fighting for his spot in the regular season rotation and maybe even the roster. With an overloaded roster, someone is going to have to be left out, but on Saturday, Wiggins helped his case being one of the better threats on the court against the Rockets.

Wiggins hasn’t exploded in the Summer League on the stat sheet, but he continues to be a solid attribute to the roster. On Saturday, he played one of his best games. He shot 5-of-9 from the field which ranked only behind Williams. He scored 12 points and secured four rebounds. Wiggins also had a block and a steal.

Wiggins was one of just three Thunder players to make a 3-point shot on Saturday.

Ousmane Dieng

Ousmane Dieng continues to find his way in NBA life. He has continued to show more comfortability in the game and with the team and that continued on Saturday.

After struggling in the first couple of games Dieng continues to make improvements. He scored 10 points Saturday and added six rebounds, but his impact was more than that. It was clear he’s finding his way and showing what caused Presti to trade for him on draft night.

Dieng shot 4-of-12 from the field, but 4-of-7 from inside the 3-point range. However, his 0-for-5 mark from beyond the arc shows there’s still room for improvement and comfortability.

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Published Jul 10, 2022

CHRIS BECKER

Chris is a senior Sports Media student at Oklahoma State University who has grown up in Oklahoma and around the Thunder. Chris has covered OSU sports from women’s golf to football working for the O’Colly, the OSU student newspaper.