Following Thursday's historic comeback win over the Memphis Grizzlies, the OKC Thunder head into Saturday's Game 4 up 3-0 and with a chance to officially punch their ticket to the West semifinals for the second consecutive year.
With a first-round sweep well on the horizon, coupled with their top-seeded finish in the conference standings, many may be quick to draw parallels between this season's squad and the one that Oklahoma City rolled out in 2023-24.
Of course, for many reasons, these two iterations are far from the same.
From recording the fifth-most wins in a single campaign with 68 to setting the league record for highest per-game point differential at 12.9, it's more than apparent that this Thunder team has made some serious improvements compared to last year.
Now, heading into Game 4, Jalen Williams finds himself on the brink of receiving his shot at further improving upon his own personal league-wide status.
Jalen Williams inching toward shot at redemption with Thunder
While there were many reasons why the Thunder were bounced from the second round of last year's postseason, perhaps the most talked-about factor was Jalen Williams' inability to step up in times of need, especially while defenses zeroed in on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Coming into 2024-25, concerns over whether he can serve as the number two option on a title-hopeful team seemed to be all the rage, and, even throughout his All-Star season, such question marks were still present.
However, during the 2025 NBA Playoffs, Williams has given fans of the franchise serious hope that he can put these worries to rest.
Amid Gilgeous-Alexander's ongoing struggles this postseason, the 24-year-old has stepped up his play in a significant and much-needed way, as he's been posting sensational averages of 23.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and just shy of a block while shooting 56.9 percent from the floor and registering a team-high plus-minus of +20.3.
From a more advanced angle, he ranks third in the league in net rating (31.6) while OKC drops by roughly 16.0 points (118.2 to 102.0) with Williams off the court.
In this first-round series against Memphis, the third-year pro has undoubtedly proved that he's capable of running the show and serving as a trusty Robin (or, in this case, Nightwing) to SGA's Batman.
However, the real test will come in the second round, as it was at this stage during last year's ill-fated run where J-Dub fell short.
All he needs now is to win one more game before his personal redemption journey to officially begin.