The Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams has not played since April 22 after injuring himself in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Phoenix Suns. There were concerns that he would not be available in the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs, but those worries have now disappeared for the Thunder.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the former All-Star will be ready for action in Game 1 against the surging Spurs. Meanwhile, for the Spurs, De’Aaron Fox (right ankle soreness) and Luke Kornet (left foot soreness) have been listed as questionable for Game 1, which means that San Antonio could be without two key players in the first game against the defending champions.
The defending champions were initially at risk of potentially losing Jalen Williams for the rest of the postseason. But as it turns out, Williams was simply not rushing his return due to his confidence in the team to excel even without him.
“It’s good I haven’t had to rush back from my hamstring stuff at all, I’m actually taking extra days now than what was even originally planned cause we’re up 3-0, so there’s no point going into this series and possibly hurting myself,” said Williams when the Thunder were facing the Lakers in the second round.
The rumors were creating an expectation that Williams would return for Game 1 after he was seen at practice a few days ago, and their head coach, Mark Daigneault, gave a positive update on his timeline for return.
The former All-NBA player already struggled with hamstring injuries throughout the season while also recovering from wrist surgery at the start of the season, following an epic NBA Finals run last year that included a 40-point game.
Hence, he was only limited to playing 33 games in this regular season, where he averaged 17.1 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 48.4% from the field and 29.9% from beyond the arc.
Clearly, he was already on the road to finding his rhythm once again to be back to his peak self when his road got derailed with another injury blow.
While I am unsure that he will be able to produce at the same level as he did last season, the Thunder will benefit more from having him on the floor than seeing him sit it out.
It is expected that Ajay Mitchell will return to the bench when Williams returns, but it will be interesting to see whether he can make winning contributions against the surging Spurs tomorrow night.
