A rousing 114-88 win on Tuesday has the Thunder up 1-0 over the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. If Oklahoma City wants to take Game 2, it’ll need more than just MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. What should we expect from Jalen Williams, OKC’s second-best player, on Thursday?
The Thunder enter tonight’s contest as 7.5-point favorites, with the over/under set at 216.5 points. Here’s the best Jalen Williams prop bet on DraftKings Sportsbook before Thursday’s Game 2 tips off.
Jalen Williams O 1.5 steals (-125)
One of the biggest questions relating to the Thunder is Jalen Williams’ role as Robin to Gilgeous-Alexander’s Batman. In the regular season, critiquing the third-year pro would be nothing but nitpicking. Over 69 games, he averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 48.4% from the field.
As good as those numbers were, it’s been a different story in the playoffs. Through 12 postseason games, Williams has recorded 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.7 assists. More concerning is his shooting, which became a major issue against the Nuggets in round two. During that series, the first-time All-Star connected on just 37.5% of his field goal attempts.
For all his positive attributes, it’s clear that Williams can’t be trusted as a scorer right now. However, the do-it-all guard is too good not to contribute in some fashion. All season, J-Dub has made an impact on defense, notching 1.6 steals and 0.7 blocks per game. Williams’ ball hawking skills have carried over into this series, leading to a five-steal performance in Game 1.
It helps that the Timberwolves don’t exactly play the cleanest brand of basketball. This season, Minnesota has turned the ball over 14.5 times per game, the 12th-highest mark in basketball. That number has risen to 20.3 over the team’s last three outings. Williams is averaging 1.9 steals per game during his previous ten meetings with the Wolves. Another active evening on defense could be in store for the wing on Thursday.
