Jaylin Williams has bounce-back performance in Thunder's win over Jazz

Diving for a loose ball, Jaylin Williams entered the first rows of Utah fans. The entire OKC bench loved the hustle. Despite the final result already known, he showed why they're in a class of their own. The all-time defense isn't just purely about the unreal talent it has, but also about the contagious culture it's grown.

Williams finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, six rebounds and six assists. He shot 5-of-7 from 3. He also had two steals.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had a weird 144-112 win over the Utah Jazz. After trailing by 18 points, they led by as many as 36 points in a wild 54-point swing.

As the mental miscues piled on, Williams needed this breakout performance. It's easily the best of his season. He's struggled with his outside shot. That has spilled over to other areas in the game. Too many avoidable mistakes, like a bad turnover or shot attempts, have materialized because of that.

But if you were to exemplify this game script with one player's performance, it's Williams. While the starters sleptwalk to start, he energized them — along with the rest of the bench. Hesitating on an outside attempt, his teammates provided a much-needed confidence boost. Shoot them or else.

That's what Williams did. He made a career-best five outside makes. Matching fire with fire, the Thunder kept up with the Jazz from the perimeter until the latter eventually cooled off. Once he saw a few go in, his confidence oozed elsewhere with his playmaking and rebounding.

This is who the Thunder hope to see more often the rest of the way. Don't get me wrong, Williams is awesome for the chemistry. He helps everybody understand their role and keep up the good vibes. But he's also shown he's capable of being a productive player. Let's see if this can snowball into more momentum.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was happy with their bench production. Despite being out several players, all 12 OKC players who suited up scored at least five points and played a decent chunk of minutes.

"He's just shot it well enough that those are good shots for him. Similar to what I said about Dort the other night. J-Will has done a good job at just staying the course. He was in the 20s in his 3-point percentage at some point this season," Daigneault said. "He didn't get off to a super hot start, but has shot his shots. Remain confident. The team remains confident in him. Nice to see him break through tonight."

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Jaylin Williams has bounce-back performance in Thunder's win over Jazz