Amid the Game 2 battle between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Phoenix Suns, the defending NBA Champions lost their starting forward, Jalen Williams, to a hamstring injury.
When Williams exited the game to get checked out, the Thunder initially listed him as questionable to return. He ended up missing the remainder of the game.
Williams checked out of the game after 23 minutes played. During his stint, Williams shot 7-11 from the field, 2-3 from deep, and 3-5 from the line to score 19 points. He also collected four assists, one steal, and one rebound.
Despite losing Williams for the remainder of the game, the Thunder remained on the right track. OKC closed out Game 2 with a dominant 120-107 win. While it felt great for them to go up 2-0 in the series, the Thunder still had a lot to worry about, as Williams was set to undergo an MRI.
On Thursday afternoon, the results displayed a Grade 1 hamstring strain for Williams. Shortly after the diagnosis was made public, NBA injury analyst Jeff Stotts compared the injury to several players during previous runs, including Devin Booker. Stotts pointed to Curry, noting that the star sharpshooter missed four games as a result of a hamstring strain last year.
via Jeff Stotts on X: Jalen Williams Injury History: The average time lost for Grade 1 hamstring strains is ~12.4 days. Multiple players have suffered the injury in the playoffs including Jaylen Brown, Steph Curry, & Devin Booker. Curry’s injury occurred last year & kept him out of GS’s last 4 games.
The Suns Could Catch A Break
The Thunder are already considering Williams to be week-to-week. If his timeline is similar to Curry’s, he could end up missing the remainder of the series, depending on how competitive the Suns keep it.
So far, the Suns are in bad shape. They have lost both matchups by double-digits. On top of the losses, Phoenix is growing frustrated with the way the first two games have been officiated, which is a common trend for OKC opponents. Yet, there isn’t much the Suns can do about it.
They’ll catch a slight break with Williams exiting the lineup for some time, but the Thunder tend to do just fine in Williams’ absence. This year, Williams played in just 33 games. The team achieved a 39-10 record without him.
On Saturday, April 25, the Suns and the Thunder will meet in Phoenix for Game 3. The Suns will get an opportunity to put a win on the board before they fall into the dreadful 0-3 hole.