Forcing another turnover, Jalen Williams picked up the loose ball. He dribbled his way down the court. Determined to go all the way, he bullied his way through Andrew Wiggins before he utilized his extensive wingspan to go for the underhanded layup he scooped in.

The Oklahoma City Thunder had a strong second half to get a 124-112 win over the Miami Heat. They returned to their vintage form of stop-and-shots to pull away on the scoreboard.

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Williams finished with 18 points on 9-of-13 shooting, four rebounds and four assists. He shot 0-of-1 from 3 and went 0-of-2 on free throws. He also had two steals.

Make that two-for-two in Williams having his best games of the season. Looking at the shot charts, he’s ditched the outside jumper. Now, he only settles for drives to the rim and pull-up mid-range looks. Until his wrist returns to normal, that’s likely the diet he will have to limit himself to.

Against a questionable defense, Williams went straight at the teeth of Miami’s defense. He’s found a flow as a drive-heavy scorer. Barreling himself to open up lanes has been his bread and butter. The Heat didn’t have adequate paint protectors to alternate his approach.

Helping the Thunder balloon their lead with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench, Williams went back to the formula in this one. They dominated with the reigning MVP on the floor and marginally won the minutes he was off it. That’s the formula they used on their way to an NBA championship. And it is likely what needs to happen again if they want to go back-to-back.

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“He has no choice. If we’re going to win, we’re going to need his best version. He knows that. We know that. That’ll come around. He’ll get better as the season goes on,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I didn’t expect him to average 40 out of the gate. He’s a great player. He’s going to get back to his usual self. It’s going to take time.”

Sitting on a bench with a heated glove — aspired by PJ Washington — Williams’ ongoing battle with his wrist has been highlighted in recent days. I think we’ve all collectively realized that it won’t be smooth sailing returning from that. If you’re the Thunder, you hope he’s close to his full potential by the time the playoffs roll around in three months.

“Passing and dribbling and all that stuff were the easiest parts. It’s gonna be shooting, to be honest. For a while, it was grip strength. Being able to actually hold onto the ball. Even just dunking before was difficult,” Williams said. “Now I’m able to hang on the rim. It’s stuff that you guys probably would have no idea. But it’s stuff where I’m working out alone and at the facility where I go to dunk and I have to drop the ball in. There was a point where I couldn’t hang on the rim. Now I’m able to do stuff like that. It’s starting to come back.”

It’s a bad situation to find yourself in. Williams sacrificed a healthy season for a ring by playing their whole playoff run last year on a compromised wrist. But as always, he’s taking a glass-half-full approach. Everybody else in the league would make that trade in a heartbeat. Now, it’s about figuring out a way to dance around it.

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“It’s not like 100 people are running around with this injury. Nor do they have that many people who had to do the surgery twice. It’s one of those things that I look at as a new opportunity to show people who end up having to go through it at some point that it’s possible to maneuver through it,” Williams said. “So that’s how I’ve been looking at it. But like all things, it takes time, but I’ll figure it out. I’ll be able to manage and get everything else going. I feel like I can do a lot of things on the court. I can still score.”

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: How important is Jalen Williams’ wrist to OKC’s success this season?