Thunder sit – Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell are out for Oklahoma City’s Game 7 vs. San Antonio due to hamstring and soleus injuries, reshaping the Thunder’s lineup as the series heads into Saturday night.
Oklahoma City will be without two of its key pieces when the Thunder take the floor for Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night at 8 ET on NBC/Peacock.
Jalen Williams will not play because of a strained left hamstring that has followed him throughout the playoffs. Ajay Mitchell is also out with a strained right soleus.
The injuries have been the defining thread for both players across this series. and now they’re hitting hardest at the moment the Thunder can least afford it. Williams has spent much of the postseason working through the same left hamstring issue. while Mitchell’s right soleus problem has removed him from the lineup at the point where the next mistake can end the season.
Williams missed 49 of Oklahoma City’s 82 regular-season games with wrist and hamstring issues. Saturday marks the 10th playoff game he has missed this year as new hamstring problems linger. He has played in five postseason games, including about 10 minutes in Thursday’s Game 6 loss to the Spurs.
Mitchell had been the starter who replaced Williams in the lineup until his own injury sidelined him. With Mitchell out, Oklahoma City has been starting Jared McCain in that spot alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren.
Williams’ playoff road hasn’t been smooth. He exited Game 2 with hamstring tightness after straining it earlier in these playoffs. He returned in Game 5 for the first time coming off the bench since 2022, scoring three points and grabbing four rebounds in 16 minutes.
San Antonio, for its part, reported no injuries going into Game 7—leaving the Spurs as the one team walking into Saturday with full availability, while the Thunder navigate the fallout of a late-season injury crunch.
For Oklahoma City, the question now isn’t just whether the lineup can compensate. It’s how long the Thunder can withstand the loss of two players whose issues have already shaped the way they’ve managed minutes, roles and rhythm all postseason long—right up to the brink.
Oklahoma City Thunder San Antonio Spurs Game 7 Jalen Williams injury Ajay Mitchell injury hamstring soleus Western Conference Finals
Damn Game 7 and they’re sitting starters? Unfair.
Wait who is Ajay Mitchell again? Like the article says soleus but I have no idea what that is, sounds made up lol. Spurs get fully healthy and Thunder just fall apart.
Is this the same Jalen Williams that’s been injured all playoffs? I feel like they shoulda rested him earlier. Also why does it mention wrist issues in the regular season like that’s related to a hamstring… seems like they’re reaching.
So Shai is gonna have to do everything again. I swear the Thunder get banged up every year right when it matters. I saw McCain start and I’m like ok cool so we just throw random dudes in and hope? Spurs being “no injuries” sounds suspicious too like teams always claim that.