Jalen Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunder will host Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night as they look to take a step towards their first NBA Finals appearance since 2012. They will take on the #6 seed Timberwolves who are playing in their second consecutive conference finals.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Thunder are 7.5-point favorites in Game 1 with the total set at 215.5 points.
Best Jalen Williams Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Jalen Williams Under 20.5 Points (-130)
Despite a productive Game 7 in the previous round, I think Williams will struggle in this home opener. Williams has gone under this total in six of 11 games in this postseason. He had much more success in the first-round sweep against the Grizzlies, going over this total in three of four games and averaging 23.3 points per game.
Things really took a dip in the Denver series though, as he went under 20.5 points in five of the seven games while averaging 17.6 points per game and shooting 37.5% from the field and 23.7% from three.
Now, Williams will face a much tougher defense in the conference finals as the Timberwolves have really stepped it up on the defensive side in this postseason. They have the second-best defensive rating in the playoffs (106.8), only trailing the Thunder. Compare that to their 110.8 defensive rating in the regular season, which ranked 10th in the NBA. Williams struggled for most of the series against Denver in scoring, who finished with a defensive rating of 114.8 in the playoffs, which was good enough for 10th best.
In the four regular-season matchups with Minnesota this season, Williams went under this total on three occasions.
Despite a glimmer of hope with his Game 7 performance, I think Williams will continue to struggle shooting the ball and ultimately I think he will go under his points total against a tough defense.
