Jalen Williams points finger at Suns star for play he says has been a career habit

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Jalen Williams was frustrated with a late foul from a Phoenix Suns player, calling it a regular habit of his.

The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised past the Phoenix Suns with a 49-point win to move into the NBA Cup semi-finals.

The Thunder used that performance to tie the Warriors’ legendary 24-1 start to the 2015-16 season, and never looked in trouble at any stage.

Earlier, Devin Booker had suggested that the Suns had figured out how to handle OKC, but that clearly wasn’t the case.

One member of Phoenix was still making his presence felt though, committing a hard foul on Chet Holmgren even though the game was already out of reach.

Jalen Williams calls out Grayson Allen for hard foul on Chet Holmgren

During the fourth quarter of the blowout loss, Grayson Allen caught attention for a flagrant foul on Chet Holmgren, throwing an illegal screen that many saw as excessive given the scoreline.

Williams was quick to step in and support his teammate. After the game, he didn’t hold back, suggesting this wasn’t out of character for Allen and pointing to similar incidents throughout his career.

Williams even hinted he wouldn’t have minded if things escalated further but acknowledged that kind of reaction is rare in today’s NBA.

“Just, I don’t know. We’re up 40. I think something happened a play before, so there was some frustration,” Williams explained. “But I just made sure I had Chet’s back, and that’s it.”

“It’s a thing he’s kinda done his whole career… It’s not really anything… As bad as I want it to be something. It’s the NBA, nobody really fights anymore.”

Grayson Allen stands by physical play in Suns’ loss to Thunder

Speaking after the game, Allen stood by his decision, saying he felt it was consistent with the way the game had been played up to that point.

“Felt like I gave a good foul within the physicality of the game and what was going on both ends, especially with the bumps on screens,” Allen said. “Some of the hits on blockouts that were happening. It was straight up. He was cutting into me. Definitely a foul.

“But I thought it was within the physicality of the game. I think the reaction afterwards kind of played into that.”

The reactions during and after the game highlighted some frustration about how fouls were being called. There were suggestions that Chet Holmgren’s earlier defense on Allen wasn’t penalised in the same way, leading some fans to feel OKC were getting favourable calls from officials.