It was the Jalen Williams show in OKC tonight. All season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been the Thunder’s undisputed leader—but J-Dub made a powerful case as 1B. He delivered the best game of his career, pouring in a career-high 40 points and grabbing six boards in a pivotal win over the Pacers. His outburst powered OKC to an 11-point victory and a commanding 3-2 lead in the Finals. Even ESPN analyst Bob Myers had to rethink his stance after witnessing Williams’ dominance.

Myers, who has questioned Williams’ superstar potential in the past, took a drastic U-turn during the postgame show, “I’m done doubting him. I’m done. I have doubted him I will be honest, but I’m man enough to admit it. I’m done.” He continued, “Not only the 40, the efficiency of it. He’s doing a lot of it by himself. I mean he’s becoming a playmaker, not just for himself but his teammates. By the way, defensively he’s fantastic too.”

Yes, Williams was on fire tonight, as he shot 14 of 25 from the field and hit three deep range shots. Moreover, this was not a fluke performance. He has scored a total 93 points in the last three games. Further revealing how impressed Myers was by Jalen’s showing, he said, “We’re watching the emergence of a guy that if not for Shai, who’s the MVP, you’d be talking about this guy as the best player on a lot of different teams in this league, to do what he did tonight.”

Well, Williams did what not many players in this league can – outshine the MVP. While Shai did what he usually does as he dropped a 31-point double-double, J Dub was clearly the star of the show tonight. Together, SGA and Jalen created history by becoming the first Thunder duo to score 30+ points in the same NBA Finals game.

Also, the young duo joined LeBron James and Kyrie Irving as the only teammates since 1980 to finish an NBA Finals game, with 30+ points for one star and 40+ points for the other. Of course, LBJ and Ky did it in Game 5 of the 2016 Finals, where they scored 41 points each against the Warriors. But how has Williams suddenly been able to shift gears in these NBA Finals?

Jalen Williams reveals secret behind his confidence after historic Game 5 performance vs Pacers

In the first two Finals games, J Dub did not have much impact. He failed to cross the twenty-point mark on both occasions and it looked like the lights were too bright for him. But something switched when the series went to Indiana as Williams dropped 26 points in Game 3. His numbers have only increased since then. So, how this sudden shift?

Following his career night, Williams spilled the secret during his postgame interview, “My teammates instill a lot of confidence in me to go out and be me. Mark’s done a good job of telling me to just be myself. I don’t gotta be anything more and that’s given me a lot of confidence.” Yes, like a true star, J Dub credited his teammates and head coach for providing him the motivation and confidence to take over games.

Sure enough, Williams hopes to carry this form to Thursday’s Game 6 and put this series to bed once and for all. “Energy and effort. Coming there and make as few mistakes as possible and just play hard.” He remarked, revealing his strategy for the upcoming encounter, and seeming far more focused than he was last month. Do you think Williams can continue this dominant run and lead OKC to their first ever NBA title?