WITH THE OKLAHOMA CITY Thunder crowd standing and buzzing with anticipation on a late January night, 22-year-old Thunder guard Jalen Williams stood on the center court logo, repeatedly pounding the ball into the hardwood as the final seconds of a tie game melted away.
Portland's Jerami Grant stood in front of him, but only briefly. A second later, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander abruptly flashed to the top of the key, not only bringing his defender with him, but also causing Grant to momentarily hesitate before deciding to help occupy the superstar guard, too. As a result, Anfernee Simons -- who at 6-foot-3 was not only the shortest but also the weakest defender on the floor -- ended up being the last line of defense against the 6-foot-5 Williams.
The game clock dwindled below the five-second mark, before Williams dribbled twice and rose from the left wing. The high-arcing 18-foot jumper swished through, winning the game 111-109 for the Thunder.
After the victory, a couple key pieces of information emerged. Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP candidate, mentioned he was serving as a decoy on the play, one Thunder coach Mark Daigneault specifically called for Williams. "Obviously I have high gravity [out to the three-point line], so I just wanted to use it in that situation and try to confuse the switch and confuse the defense to get him a look he's comfortable shooting," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
An MVP decoy? A buzzer-beating playcall for Jalen Williams?
Williams had hit two jumpers from almost that exact spot on the short left wing -- his most accurate shot location this season -- just moments before. And he is shooting 69.2% in clutch moments this season, leading NBA guards in clutch field goal percentage among players with at least 25 attempts.
But that aside, the Thunder offense is equipped to break defenses, no matter who touches the ball last on a given play. That's both because of their chaotically selfless style of play and their historically accurate jump-shooting, which right now stands as the best in NBA history. And they're doing it using a playbook that fueled Stephen Curry and the 73-win Golden State Warriors.