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Jalen Williams details Thunder’s approach ahead of NBA Finals

Originally posted on Ball Exclusives
By Stephen M. Smith | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 11:14 AM ET

Game one of the NBA Finals is Thursday between Oklahoma City and Indiana.

Jalen Williams, the starting forward for the Thunder, helped his team capture the best record in the National Basketball Association heading into the postseason. Now, he has an opportunity to pace OKC to winning a NBA Championship.

His teammate, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, finished as the league’s regular season Most Valuable Player and Western Conference Finals MVP, but Williams was critical too. He averaged 23.3 points per game in Oklahoma City’s series versus Memphis and 22.2 points per contest in its series against Minnesota. Williams also helped SGA take down two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Denver in the conference semifinal round. After knocking out the Timberwolves, Williams detailed the Thunder’s approach heading into the finals. The team is young, yet it carries a maturity and chemistry about itself that is very special.

J-Dub on @okcthunder‘s approach going into the Finals:

“You have to stack wins… get prepared for Game 1 and go from there.” pic.twitter.com/8oXEAsAPMf

— NBA (@NBA) June 1, 2025

“You have to stack wins,” Williams said about OKC’s approach.

“That is how we are looking at it. The best way we have done it so far is let’s get prepared for game one now and go from there. I think it does make it a little easier now that we know who we are playing.”

Oklahoma City is not trying to get ahead of itself in thinking it has to win four games.

The Thunder is taking it one matchup at a time.

This article first appeared on Ball Exclusives and was syndicated with permission.

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