OKLAHOMA CITY — Driving into a packed paint, Jalen Williams gingerly walked back. Holding the back of his leg, he gutted out a couple of possessions before he bumped into Devin Booker for the intentional foul to check out. Not that long after, he walked through the tunnel and disappeared from the public eye.

The Oklahoma City Thunder picked up a 120-107 Game 2 win over the Phoenix Suns. While they grabbed a 2-0 series lead, Williams' latest hamstring problem clouded the playoff victory.

Playing with a brand-new sense of urgency, the Suns kept things close to start. Dillon Brooks lived up to his word to start. He hunted for his shot on isolation looks. This time around, they fell in. Williams countered his buckets. He hit an impressive spin-around move that made him look like an All-NBA guy.

Adding to the chaos, Alex Caruso stole the ball and then threw down a slam. The defense-to-offense sequence ignited the OKC crowd. The Thunder had a 30-29 lead after the first quarter. Running with the second unit, OKC ballooned its lead.

Isaiah Joe knocked down a couple of outside jumpers. Williams ran out in transition for a breakaway jam. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got the better of Brooks on a mid-range jumper. He finally trolled back by pointing his finger at him. The Thunder scored 35 points in the second frame. They entered halftime with a 65-57 lead over the Suns. Not bad.

After the break, what was supposed to be a celebration turned somber. The Thunder were on their way to an easy-peasy 2-0 series lead. Brooks kept trying to antagonize OKC, but nobody fell for his gimmicks. Isaiah Hartenstein threw up an alley-oop to Chet Holmgren. They finally built up a double-digit lead.

Alas, all of the good vibes quickly zapped away. Going for a transition layup, Williams once again landed awkwardly. This time, he grabbed his left hamstring — the good one that's given him zero headaches this year. He played a couple of more possessions before he finally tapped out with a foul on Booker.

Circled by trainers, Williams eventually left the Thunder bench. He didn't play the rest of the game. Suddenly, a Game 2 matchup with the eighth-seeded Suns felt small. The more important issue is the 25-year-old's status for the rest of the NBA playoffs. We won't truly know for a few days at least.

While that hung over everybody's head, the Thunder started to run away on the scoreboard. They went on a 19-5 run to really break this game open. Alex Caruso knocked down a corner outside jumper. And then Ajay Mitchell sliced through Phoenix's defense for a layup. If Williams has to miss time, those two could see an uptick in role.

The Thunder put up 35 points in the third quarter. They had a 100-77 lead over the Suns. While everybody in OKC dreaded the possibility of being without Williams for the short-term future, Phoenix slowly made this into an interesting game. At least one where you had to watch until the end.

The Suns went on a 20-4 run. Brooks turned into a microwave scorer. He crossed the 30-point mark as he buried jumper after jumper. He found Royce O'Neale for an outside jumper. Suddenly, the Thunder only had a 110-100 lead with a little under four minutes to go.

Eventually, Gilgeous-Alexander calmed things down. He was needed to play in the fourth quarter. Leading by as many as 26 points, the Thunder squeezed out 20 points in the final frame — just enough to win by a comfortable margin despite Phoenix's unreal scoring in the final stretch.

The Thunder shot 47% from the field and went 14-of-40 (35%) from 3. They shot 20-of-25 on free throws. They had 24 assists on 43 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander had an efficient 37 points and nine assists. Holmgren had 19 points and eight rebounds. Williams finished with 19 points and four assists. Mitchell had 14 points and five assists.

Meanwhile, the Suns shot 46% from the field and went 11-of-31 (35.5%) from 3. They shot 18-of-22 on free throws. They had 23 assists on 39 baskets. Four Suns players scored double-digit points.

Booker had 22 points and seven rebounds. Brooks broke out with 30 points and six rebounds. Jalen Green had 21 points and five rebounds. O'Neale tallied 16 points and nine rebounds.

So far, this Round 1 series has gone chalk — something you can't say for most of them in these NBA playoffs. The Thunder have thoroughly been the better team than the Suns. Shouldn't be a shocker to anybody who's half-paid attention to this year. It was more competitive than Game 1, but OKC was in firm control from the jump and held a double-digit lead for most of the second half.

Now, all eyes turn towards Williams. We'll see how much time he'll miss with his latest hamstring injury. As the adage goes, you need as much luck as talent to win an NBA championship. If he misses time, this will be the first time this group has dealt with a notable absence in the postseason in its four years together. That changes the dynamics for OKC — both in this series and beyond.

Lowering the ball to beneath his knees, Gilgeous-Alexander became cerebral. He took a couple of dribbles left as Brooks was on his grill. He went up for the pull-up jumper that rainbowed in. On his way back to defense, he pointed at Brooks to troll the trollster.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 37 points on 13-of-25 shooting, nine assists and five rebounds. He shot 2-of-5 from 3 and went 9-of-9 on free throws. He also had one steal.