The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jaylin Williams and Jalen Williams are a problem for the rest of the NBA. However, on Wednesday night, that was an issue for referees, not the Thunder’s opponent.
During OKC’s game versus the Atlanta Hawks, officials became confused over each player’s foul situations. During the third quarter, referees and statisticians had Jalen Williams with two fouls. However, the official NBA scorebook listed him with three fouls.
That uncertainty prompted league officials to rewatch the second quarter of the game to determine which Williams had committed each foul to that point. So, everyone had to wait while that video was being reviewed, resulting in a 12-minute delay. Players were shown hanging out by the bench, stretching and staying loose, with Thunder and Hawks chatting on the court.
Eventually, officials determined that Jalen Williams had three fouls while Jaylin Williams had three, and the game resumed. Each player finished with four fouls in the Thunder’s 141–138 loss to Atlanta.
Just vibin pic.twitter.com/M8XPNWKHTO
— Topic: Thunder Podcast (@OKCTopicThunder) January 4, 2024
In the official box score, the two players could be distinguished apart by their scoring totals. Jalen Williams had 21 points with six assists and four steals, while Jaylin tallied three points. That disparity applies to their season averages as well. Jalen is the second-leading scorer for the 23–10 Thunder, averaging 18 points per game. Jaylin averages 3.6 points.
Both players are contributing to Oklahoma City’s surprising performance, which currently has them ranked No. 2 in the NBA’s Western Conference. The loss to Atlanta was only the Thunder’s fourth defeat in its past 16 games.
