If the Oklahoma City Thunder hope to complete another sweep, Jalen Williams won’t be able to utilize his broom. Up 3-0 over the Los Angeles Lakers, the All-NBA talent has officially been ruled out for Game 4 with a hamstring strain. He’s now missed six consecutive playoff games with the injury.
Williams sustained the hamstring strain in OKC’s Game 2 win over the Phoenix Suns. Nearly three weeks later, he remains out. In his absence, the Thunder have rattled off five straight playoff wins. Ajay Mitchell has seamlessly stepped up to be their second go-to scorer. He had 24 points and 10 assists in their 131-108 Game 3 win over the Lakers.
It’s been an injury-plagued year for Williams. He only played in 33 regular-season games. Two wrist surgeries and two hamstring strains sidelined him for most of the year. Because of that reality, the Thunder have grown an identity of winning basketball without him.
This is probably the safe play for the Thunder. No reason to have Williams out there in a Round 2 series that’s in the grave. They’ve won all three games over the Lakers by a comfortable margin. Feels like that trend should continue one more time as OKC hopes to punch its ticket to the 2026 Western Conference Finals.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Jalen Williams’ Thunder-Lakers Game 4 status officially revealed