Oklahoma City guard Jalen Williams has been ruled out of Saturday’s winner-take-all Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs because of a lingering left hamstring injury, ESPN reported Friday.
Williams appeared to aggravate the hamstring during the Thunder’s 122-113 victory in Game 2, ESPN reported. He missed the next three games, returned for Game 6 and logged 10 minutes off the bench in Oklahoma City’s loss Thursday that forced a Game 7.
“He’s obviously not 100%,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said, according to a team account of his comments. Daigneault praised Williams for fighting through the injury and said the team used a limited role to gauge what he could contribute. “He did the best he could. He’s certainly not the reason we lost,” Daigneault added.
Williams underwent wrist surgery last offseason but was a key contributor in the Thunder’s run to the NBA Finals last season, despite appearing in only 33 regular-season games before this year’s playoffs. The winner of Saturday’s Game 7 will advance to the NBA Finals to face the New York Knicks.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
