OKLAHOMA CITY — For the majority of the season, even as the Oklahoma City Thunder strolled through the regular season and swept their way into the Western Conference finals, they did so without a key piece.
Jalen Williams, the 25-year-old do-it-all All-Star wing who established himself as the Thunder’s preeminent scoring option behind MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, missed 49 regular season games and most of the playoffs with hamstring injuries in both legs. Williams returned in Game 1 of the West finals against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring 26 points in the 122-115 double-overtime loss. But Williams’ return was short-lived; he played a mere seven minutes in Game 2 Wednesday night before, once again, leaving with a hamstring injury.
Williams will receive treatment on his left hamstring, and the Thunder will evaluate him each day, multiple league sources confirmed to The Athletic. He has not been ruled out for Friday’s Game 3 in San Antonio. But that the injury is a recurring one is certainly worrying for a Thunder squad that lost homecourt advantage earlier this week by dropping Game 1.
Williams said that he felt “good” after playing 37 minutes in Game. 1
“I haven’t really played all year, so (I’m) fine,” he said before Wednesday’s Game 2. “I’m probably a little sore going almost a month without playing basketball, and then you’re playing a very good Spurs team, where the game is physical, then you go double overtime. My body was a little sore after that, but other than that, I played less games this year than I did some of my years in college.”
The good news for the Thunder: They are a deep team that went 39-10 without Williams in the regular season and 6-0 in the playoffs before he returned. They also won Game 2 against the Spurs 122-113 despite Williams’ absence after the first quarter.
During their second-round series against the Lakers, the Thunder started Ajay Mitchell with Williams unavailable. The second-year guard shone with the additional playing time, averaging 22.5 points and 6.0 assists a game.
If the Thunder don’t have Williams to throw at Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama, coach Mark Daigneault will likely lean on a combination of Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso to attempt to slow down Wemby.
Williams, a four-year veteran out of Santa Clara, was an All-Star in the 2024-25 season when he averaged a career-best 21.6 points, along with 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. He tore a ligament in his right wrist before Oklahoma City’s title run last season, which required multiple surgeries after the playoffs.
Game 3 in San Antonio tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET.
