Player grades: Jalen Williams returns in Thunder's 123-119 win over Suns

Player grades: Jalen Williams returns in Thunder's 123-119 win over SunsStory byNov 28, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Collin Gillespie (12) moves the ball as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams (8) defends during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn ImagesClemente Almanza, OKC Thunder WireSat, November 29, 2025 at 7:37 AM UTC·12 min read

OKLAHOMA CITY — Receiving the inbound pass, Devin Booker's turnaround outside jumper clanked off the back of the rim. Alex Caruso collected the miss and darted the ball across the court as the final seconds ticked away. After getting bored with blowouts, OKC had another heart-pumper.

The Oklahoma City Thunder survived a scare in their 123-119 win over the Phoenix Suns. They advanced to the eight-team knockout tournament of the 2025 NBA Cup, as they won the West Group A.

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Bringing back Jalen Williams, the Thunder looked like a team figuring out how to play with each other again. Meanwhile, the Suns showed that their hot start is more than just a cute story.

Rust was expected with Williams. Trying to draw a foul, his shot attempt only caught air. But Gilgeous-Alexander had a slow start, too. The 30-point scoring machine missed a bunch of gimmes he always makes. That helped the Suns keep it close from the jump. Both teams were tied at 25 points apiece after the first quarter.

The Thunder looked like their normal self in the second frame. Williams scored his first points on a transition dunk. Jaylin Williams made an outside look as he's on a hot streak with his jumper. They scored 31 points in the frame. They entered halftime with a 56-52 lead over the Suns.

Out of the break, the Thunder created some distance on the scoreboard. A 16-5 run to open the second half had them up 72-59 as Chet Holmgren hit on a pull-up jumper. They scored 38 points in the third frame. After a hot start, Devin Booker cooled off. With all momentum on their side, OKC had a 94-82 lead over Phoenix.

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The points piled on as Isaiah Joe made a corner look to open the fourth quarter. That put the Thunder up 97-82. Led by Williams and Holmgren, it felt like OKC's second unit would allow Gilgeous-Alexander to rest another final frame. And then the Suns answered right back with nine straight points.

It was suddenly just a six-point contest with over nine minutes left. Game on. The Suns weren't going to wave the white flag yet. Offensive rebounds and outside jumpers kept them in it. Royce O'Neale couldn't miss from the outside, as all his outside attempts swished through. Collin Gillespie and Jordan Goodwin were two other Phoenix role players who gained confidence.

When Gilgeous-Alexander checked back in, it was a crunch-time situation. Booker went bucket-for-bucket with the reigning MVP. Making a pair of free throws, he had OKC's lead down to 103-101 with over five minutes left. This was going to be another close finish.

The Suns were able to get it as close as a one-point deficit. O'Neale knocked down an outside jumper to make it 112-111 with three minutes left. Phoenix had already impressed with what it did in OKC. And it was knocking on the door of its biggest upset of the year.

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Only up by one point with less than two minutes left, Gilgeous-Alexander went into Superman mode. He rattled in a stepback 3-pointer with little space to work with. That put the Thunder ahead 118-114 with 1:38 left. After Booker turned it over on a double team, the rest of the game turned into a free-throw battle.

After almost catastrophically turning it over on an inbounds, Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down the much-needed free-throw attempts to stiff-arm the Suns on the scoreboard. They scored 29 points in the final frame to ensure the Suns didn't pull off the upset comeback.

The Thunder shot 48% from the field and went 15-of-32 (46.9%) from 3. They shot 24-of-28 on free throws. They had 27 assists on 42 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander had led the way with 37 points and eight assists. Holmgren had 23 points and eight rebounds. Williams tallied 11 points and eight assists. Cason Wallace finished with 14 points and four rebounds. Williams had 14 points and Joe had 10 points off the bench.

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Meanwhile, the Suns shot 46% from the field and went 15-of-44 (34.1%) from 3. They shot 20-of-24 on free throws. They had 20 assists on 42 baskets. Six Suns players scored double-digit points.

Booker had 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Gillespie scored 24 points and went 6-of-11 from the outside. Dillon Brooks scored 19 points. Mark Williams had 13 points and 14 rebounds. O'Neale finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Goodwin scored 14 points.

Not the prettiest win, but the Thunder found a way to get it. Bringing Williams back to the fold will take time. That was painfully obvious. Patience will be required. That said, they handled another close situation well. The Suns have been one of the big surprise teams this season. When OKC didn't deliver the knockout punch it thought it did, it made big-time plays to match Phoenix's.

Let's look at Thunder player grades:

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus

Nov 28, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) gives a thumbs up to his team during the second half against the Phoenix Suns at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Matching up with O'Neale, Gilgeous-Alexander slowly dribbled the ball between his legs a couple of times. Staring at the Phoenix defender in a one-on-one situation, the reigning MVP swished in the daring pull-up outside jumper. That put OKC up by four points with less than two minutes.

The magnitude of the bucket could be seen in Gilgeous-Alexander's facial expressions. The usually calm 30-point machine was loud with his celebration. To the point that he was still pumping himself up as the Suns brought the ball back up.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 37 points on 10-of-20 shooting, eight assists and three rebounds. He shot 3-of-5 from 3 and went 14-of-17 on free throws. He also had a steal.

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Last game, it was an illness that limited Gilgeous-Alexander. This game, it was flat-out bad luck. A slow start saw several driving layups he makes in his sleep rattle around the rim before they didn't fall through. Oh well. Just a small setback to another superb-efficient 30-point outing.

As the game progressed, Gilgeous-Alexander figured out the Suns. The jumper might've been dull, but his constant drives to the basket helped him rely on the secretive fourth level of scoring to get his points — getting to the free-throw line.

The Suns are one of several teams trying to copy OKC's homework of a physical brand of defense. The reigning MVP leveraged that to a busy night at the free-throw line, where each trip grew the 'MVP' chants' volume. Carrying the Thunder to the finish line, his 15-point final frame is the latest bullet point of a long MVP resume this season.

At this point, this is what you should expect from Gilgeous-Alexander. Nobody blinks twice at a game that'd be a career night for most of the league. He's one of the NBA's best players. Normalizing 30-point outings and more late-game heroics is the type of stuff that puts you in all-time conversations.

Jalen Williams: C

Nov 28, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams (8) shoots over Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Poking the ball out of Gillespie's hand, Williams led the fastbreak. He played hot potato with Kenrich Williams before he threw down the two-handed jam. His first points of the 2025-26 NBA season. He yelled at the crowd in excitement as he ran back to defense.

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Williams finished with 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting, eight assists and four rebounds. He shot 1-of-1 from 3 and went 4-of-4 on free throws. He also had two steals and a block.

Friday was all about Williams. After missing the first 19 games, the Thunder added an All-NBA player back. When he was the last player to come out of the tunnel for pregame warmups, the entire OKC crowd roared in a mix of cheers and barks.

No doubt, this was a milestone for Williams. He had a grueling five-month rehab process that required two surgeries to repair the torn wrist ligaments he played through in their playoff journey. But that doesn't mean he'll immediately jump back to playing like one of the best players.

With his wrist heavily wrapped in ice, Williams said as much in his postgame interview. It'll be a process, but luckily, the Thunder have plenty of time and margin for error for him to get back in a groove. What matters is that he looks like his normal self by the time the NBA playoffs roll around.

Chet Holmgren: B-plus

Nov 28, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) and Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) exchange words during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Fighting with Oso Ighodaro, Holmgren collected a game-sealing rebound. Brooks couldn't tie it up in the final seconds from the corner. As the Thunder were out-muscled on the glass, the seven-footer grabbed a critical miss when needed.

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Holmgren finished with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, eight rebounds and one assist. He shot 2-of-5 from 3 and went 5-of-6 on free throws.

With Isaiah Hartenstein out, Holmgren played center for the first time in forever. That helped him get plenty of looks deep inside the paint. Several teammates fed him the ball for dunks. He was OKC's second-leading scorer in a game where they needed someone else to step up.

For the first time this season, we saw Holmgren and Williams run the second unit. That was a staple with last year's squad. But for obvious reasons, that hadn't happened this season until tonight. The results were pretty mixed. They saw OKC's lead evaporate in the fourth quarter when it had the chance to blow it open.

It was interesting to see Holmgren play as the center. It put him in spots that he hadn't really been in this season. Although they were dominated on the boards, his perimeter scoring helped the offense flow more smoothly. It's an interesting conundrum that really makes you weigh which side of the ball you value more.

Cason Wallace: A

Nov 28, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) dunks against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Pressing up on Gillespie, Wallace finally poked the ball loose. He picked it up and ran to the other side of the court for the transition jam. The steal-to-score sequence has been his specialty as one of OKC's best perimeter defenders and athletic players.

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Wallace finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, four rebounds and three assists. He shot 2-of-3 from 3. He also had one steal.

You don't get too many scoring outbursts out of Wallace. But he made the Suns pay on a couple of outside makes. Consider that production as a bonus to what he brings on the other end. Some of the best one-on-one defensive skills in the NBA.

After a quick start, Booker slowly faded back into irrelevance. He didn't hunt out his shot and turned too passive. I see why he trended on social media a few years ago for hating on double teams in pickup basketball. The Suns' superstar committed some costly turnovers down the stretch. Wallace helped with that as he was one of a carousel of elite perimeter defenders assigned to him.

Jaylin Williams: A-minus

Nov 28, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams (6) shoots a three point basket over Phoenix Suns guard Collin Gillespie (12) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Getting Williams to bite on the pump-fake, Williams dribbled into a fadeaway mid-range jumper. Yep, you read all of those words right. And that came from Williams, not Gilgeous-Alexander. That's how much he was feeling himself with his shot.

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Williams finished with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and four rebounds. He shot 3-of-6 from 3 and went 1-of-1 on free throws.

After an ice-cold start to his season, Williams has gotten into a groove with his jumper. Such are the ebbs and flows of an NBA season. It was only a matter of time before he enjoyed some statistical luck from the outside. He's recently done that.

The Thunder welcomed his scoring. In an out-of-character moment, their hot outside shooting is what led them to this NBA Cup win. Williams was part of that. He hit on some huge outside buckets as he kept up with the Suns' role players' unreal shot-making.

With Hartenstein out, the Thunder needed this from Williams. You take it every night. Right now, he's on a hot streak that warrants playing time — even with a loaded frontcourt filled with healthy players for the first time all season.

Highlights:

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Jalen Williams returns in Thunder 123-119 win over Suns

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