Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hailed "special" Jalen Williams after his Oklahoma City Thunder team-mate played a starring role in their 128-126 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. (More Sports News)
The Thunder moved 3-1 to the good in the Western Conference finals series, and just one win away from reaching the NBA Finals.
Williams scored 34 points - a career postseason high - including 14 in the final quarter at Target Center on Monday.
The All-Star also scored a career-high six three-pointers from nine attempts, and his efforts were saluted by Gilgeous-Alexander, who amassed 40 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for Oklahoma.
"He was special," Gilgeous-Alexander said of Williams. "He was really good tonight from start to finish.
"He picked his spots great. He was aggressive. He stepped into everything. He was who he is. He's got all these awards for good reason. He proved it tonight."
"I feel like if you're not really good, you're probably not going to have any [scrutiny], so just play with it, just keep going," Williams added.
"A lot of people that are talking about me can't do what I do, and I know that, and I think that gives me a lot of confidence to just go out there and do whatever the team needs.
"I try not to get too ahead of myself with it, to be honest. There are still a lot of series left. We still have to go do a job this next game against a team that's very good."
Williams has enjoyed a timely upturn in fortunes, having endured a poor shooting series when the Thunder were eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in last season's Western Conference semi-finals.
The 24-year-old had also been generally inconsistent during this year's postseason, posting 10-of-43 across a three-game stretch during the semi-finals against the Denver Nuggets, before shooting 10-of-17 in Game Seven of that series.
"He showed a lot of growth, honestly," said team-mate Luguentz Dort. "You grow through experience, and he's been getting better every game, every series. He's an All-Star for a reason, and he's going to show up in those types of games."
