Stiles Points: Jalen Williams Peaking At Right Time Before Postseason

Oklahoma City has been forced to grow up fast. It was not long ago that pundits pondered when the Thunder rebuild would end and tried to manifest failure on the franchise –– going as far as to laughably call a team that saw a two-season postseason absence the black eye of the league.

Now, the Thunder sit with the best record in the Western Conference for the second straight season, each team representing the youngest two teams to ever achieve that honor. On Wednesday, OKC clinched the top record in the NBA granting them control of home court advantage through the NBA Finals.

In the blink of an eye, the Thunder went from a rebuild to a scrappy play-in team to Western Conference Favorites. In this cores second ever playoff run, anything less than reaching the NBA Finals will be viewed as a disappointment by most.

For the Thunder to reach its ultimate goal of seeing blue and orange confetti rain down on them in June, it will require third-year swingman Jalen Williams to step up as the No. 2 scoring option for Oklahoma City.

In his first playoff run, the Santa Clara product left a lot to be desired on the offensive end. That is to be expected. All-time great players have been lackluster in their first few postseason runs before breaking through and sweeping those shortcomings under the rug.

This season, the Thunder hope to be the anomaly with all of these young players coming together at the right time and passing the remake test with flying colors. This would spit in the face of NBA history as even the likes of Michael Jordan and LeBron James –– take your pick for whichever is the best player in league history –– couldn't accomplish.

Williams has strung together some of the best games of his career this week, not in the box score, but in on-court impact.

Oklahoma City has seen the 23-year-old post elite defense this season, but over the last seven games has been in complete control in that No. 2 option role leading into Wednesday night's game in Phoenix.

Over that span, Williams averaged 22.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 stocks per game on 51/40/77 shooting splits leading into Wednesday's eye-popping game where the Swiss-Army Knife posted 33 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals while shooting 56% from the floor and 5-for-6 at the charity stripe.

This homecoming game was just the latest example of Williams having his way with a defense, getting to his spots at will in the mid-range and at the rim while setting up his teammates as a connective playmaker, either cashing in outright assists or hockey assists to keep the Thunder's offense in flow.

Wednesday, it was a come-from-behind win that Williams led the Thunder to. On Tuesday? A more impressive outing.

Against the Los Angeles Lakers, in a back-and-forth affair, Williams played his playoff role wonderfully. He led the charge in the secondary minutes during the second quarter and kept the ship steady for a couple of minutes before the soon-to-be MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, could return to lead the Thunder to another win.

The formula against the Lakers is the one Oklahoma City needs to repeat in the postseason to net 16 wins en route to a Larry O'Brien trophy. No small feat, but one that will be required.

Williams has shown that ability sustainably since returning from a hip injury suffered on March 10 and is peaking at the right time as the postseason draws near.

Song of the Day: California Okie by Buck Owens