OKC Thunder Forward in Elite Playoff Company After Game 2 Victory

The elite company Williams is now a part of shouldn't come as a surprise. Since his six-point outing in Game 6 of the previous series, which the Thunder lost, the second star for the Oklahoma City Thunder has been nothing short of exceptional. On each end of the floor and in a variety of ways, Williams is proving why he earned his All-Star title earlier in the season.

His defense has arguably been the most impressive thing, providing challenges to a variety of players, including Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. He's not fouling at a high frequency and has racked up seven steals in the three games since his bad Game 6 performance. Call it maturity or simply consistency, but Williams is finding his footing now in the playoffs.

Williams' ability as a ball-handler and distributor has also seen an uptick as of late, primarily to relieve some of the ball-handling duties of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. When Williams brings the ball up the court for the Thunder and plays the point forward role, it alleviates some pressure off Gilgeous-Alexander to score and distribute. His 17 total assists over the last three games are proof of that.

What's even more impressive is the lack of turnovers. Only committing one turnover over the last three games, all of which were important, has been truly impressive and a testament to Williams' versatility. He's more than just a three-point shooting, defensive wing now. The distribution aspect of his game has evolved and is becoming more important as the playoffs progress.

The Thunder desperately needed someone else to step up in the scoring department outside of Gilgeous-Alexander, which was evident after losing 119-107 to the Denver Nuggets in Game 6. Williams went 3-for-16 from the field and forward Chet Holmgren scored 19 points on 8-for-14. Outside of him, OKC's superstar didn't get much help. This is another area where Williams has stepped up by not having Gilgeous-Alexander do all of the work.

Williams has another opportunity to keep his string of great games alive in Game 3 of the series, tipping off at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 24. The series now moves locations and will be played in Minnesota.