Jalen Williams averaged 17.1 points per game in his 4th season with the Thunder.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell will not play for the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night (8 ET, NBC/Peacock) because of injuries that have dogged both throughout the series.
Williams has been dealing with a strained left hamstring for much of the playoffs. Mitchell has a strained right soleus.
Williams missed 49 of Oklahoma City’s 82 regular-season games with wrist and hamstring issues, and Saturday will be the 10th playoff game he’s missed this year with new hamstring problems. He played in five, including about 10 minutes in Thursday’s Game 6 loss to the Spurs.
Mitchell had been the starter that replaces Williams in the lineup, until he too got hurt. Oklahoma City has been starting Jared McCain in that spot since, alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren.
Williams exited Game 2 with hamstring tightness after straining it earlier in these playoffs. He returned in Game 5 — coming off the bench for the first time since 2022 — and posted three points and four rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
The Spurs reported no injuries going into Game 7.
