The Oklahoma City Thunder will be down a star for Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.
2025 All-Star Jalen Williams was reportedly ruled out for the do-or-die clash at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news a full 24 hours before Saturday’s tipoff, which suggests Williams is nowhere close to being in game shape for the contest.
Williams has been dealing with a hamstring injury that has limited him throughout the playoffs. The Santa Clara alum missed six of OKC’s eight games during the first two rounds, but was deemed healthy enough to play in Games 1 and 2 against the Spurs. Williams tweaked his hamstring in Game 2 and ended up missing Games 3 to 5.
While Williams was able to get back on the court for Game 6, he was clearly still hobbled by the injury. He scored only one point and was a team-worst -18 in the 118-91 Thunder defeat. The Spurs also repeatedly targeted Williams and put him in actions on defense — and would have likely done the same in Game 7 had Williams given it another go.
The Thunder have had a lot of success this season, even without Williams in the lineup. Oklahoma City went 39-10 in the regular season and 8-1 in the postseason with Williams in street clothes. But a lot of that success coincided with the emergence of second-year guard Ajay Mitchell, who will also miss Game 7 due to a right calf injury.
Without Williams and Mitchell in Game 7, the Thunder may need another big-time performance from midseason acquisition Jared McCain.
