Thunder’s Jalen Williams presents possible solution to back-to-back woes

Jalen Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunder have surrendered four losses on the second night of back-to-backs, but the All-Star forward isn’t making excuses. The San Antonio Spurs’ 20-point statement win against the Thunder is the worst loss of the season for the defending champions.

Still, Williams pointed to the Thunder’s starting lineup starting in only two games this season, and the five starters strengthening its continuity in 2025-26.

“We just gotta be better on the back-to-backs. It’s really not that big of a point for us,” Williams said. “Everybody in the league has to play back-to-backs, so for me to sit up here and complain about travel or something is ridiculous. I think for us it’s just going to be about getting the guys that have been out at inconsistent times just to gel more, defensively, offensively. Me, Chet, Zay, Lu, Shai — just haven’t played minutes together.

“It’s kind of showing a little bit. It gets a little sticky, but we get a thousand more games to figure it out and do that. Hopefully, we can all continue to kind of gel and get that back.”

While Jalen Williams is adamant that playing on the second night of back-to-backs isn’t the issue, but did reveal one example of when the Thunder were shorthanded against the Portland Trail Blazers.

“But it doesn’t have anything to do with the back-to-backs,” Williams added. “The only one I’ll say had something to do [with back-to-backs] is when we had six people out against Portland. And even then, a winnable game that we should have won, and we were up 20 at one point. So, we’re not a team that’s built on excuses, and not playing well on a back-to-back.”

The Trail Blazers handed the Thunder its first loss of the regular season, snapping a perfect 8-0 start.

Mark Daigneault on the Spurs’ statement win vs. Thunder

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault credited the Spurs’ poise in Tuesday’s 130-110 blowout loss. After the game, Daigneault gave the Spurs their proverbial flowers for making a statement in their second win against the defending champion in two weeks.

“Credit them. They played great on both ends of the floor from an energy standpoint and an execution standpoint. They deserve to win the game through and through. Obviously, that was a statement with the way they played,” Daigneault said.

“They were the better team tonight. We can learn from it. Obviously, we have them in two days. We have some lessons from the game that we can carry over, and, obviously, we have to be a better team if we want to beat them on Christmas.”

The Thunder will host the Spurs at the Paycom Center on Thursday.

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