Despite fears of potential rust following a seven-day hiatus, during Sunday’s Game 1 matchup against Memphis the OKC Thunder proved to be as they have all year — dominant!

Right from the jump, Oklahoma City was found firing on all cylinders.

From their otherworldly defense that held the Grizzlies to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field in the first half to their offensive punch that saw six players score in double-digits, Sunday’s tip-off to the 2025 NBA Playoffs went about as well as it possibly could have for the Thunder, as they wound up blowing out the Grizzlies by a final score of 131-80.

Such a margin of victory is the largest for any opening game of a playoff series in NBA history.

Though this showing by the top-seeds should serve as an encouraging sign of what may be to come as they navigate through this year’s postseason, from a more individualistic perspective, Game 1 was a tremendous response by Jalen Williams to all the criticis throughout 2024-25 who questioned whether he has the potential to serve as a number two option on a title contender.

Thunder star Jalen Williams quiets doubters with insane Game 1 showing

In what was statistically the worst game of the season for superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as he wrapped up the night with just 15 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 30.8 percent shooting, J-Dub stepped up to the plate and took command as OKC’s North Star.

In just under 26 minutes of action, Williams found himself impacting the game in virtually every way imaginable.

Though the majority of attention will be drawn toward his game-high 20 points (on 62.5 percent shooting no less), he proved to be an all-around Swiss Army Knife for the Thunder, as he recorded 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, and a block while registering an elite plus-minus rating of +44.

Coming into the postseason, many questioned whether Williams had the ability to “run the show,” especially if Gilgeous-Alexander were to somehow be taken out of the equation.

Frankly, such concerns were rather warranted, especially when considering OKC’s offensive rating is just 111.0 this season with Dub on and Gilgeous-Alexander off the floor. This is a significant drop from their 119.2 rating on the year as a whole.

Game 1 against the Grizzlies, however, should be seen as Jalen Williams’s answer to the question of whether he has the potential to step up in times of serious hardship.

Without a doubt, said answer is a resounding yes!