The OKC Thunder may reside atop the Western Conference standings with a league-leading record of 25-3, but Friday's bout against the Timberwolves proved that they still have room to improve, especially when it comes to the play of All-Star Jalen Williams.
Frankly, this may actually be the scariest part about this team.
The contest was close throughout all 48 minutes of action, and, even by the time the final buzzer sounded, Oklahoma City only trailed by five points, losing by a final score of 112-107.
Though this is not to take anything away from Minnesota's efforts on the night, especially Anthony Edwards, who finished with 26 points and hit the dagger triple with 37 seconds remaining in regulation, if this game taught Thunder fans anything, it's that J-Dub is clearly still not back to his All-NBA self.
In an ironic way, this should actually excite OKC fans.
Thunder still elite even with Jalen Williams not at full strength
Down the stretch against the T-Wolves, Williams was flat-out horrific. There's really no sugarcoating it.
After an impressive first-half of action, one where he was playing impressive two-way ball and registered eight points, four rebounds, and a steal while ranking second on the team in plus-minus, the forward completely folded during the final two periods.
While he may have recorded two stocks and nine points in the second half, he shot an abysmal 33.3 percent from the field and committed four personals while coughing up two easily avoidable turnovers right as momentum was starting to shift in the Timberwolves' favor in the fourth.
Since returning from offseason wrist surgery on November 28, Williams and his teammates have been outspoken about how he's still working his way back to full strength and, more specifically, to his pre-injury shooting form.
Though the results have been largely positive when it comes to his scoring efficiency, as he's currently averaging 17.6 points on 45.4 percent shooting from the floor and 40.0 percent shooting from deep, down the stretch against Minnesota when the Thunder needed him most, his shots simply were not coming in rhythm.
If this OKC squad had last year's version of Williams, there's no chance they would have walked away from the contest with their third loss of the season.
In time, that J-Dub is bound to make his way back into the mix, which should strike fear into the hearts of all other teams strewn across the association.