Throughout this postseason, when Jalen Williams has been out with a hamstring strain — seven games and counting — coach Mark Daigneault has turned to Ajay Mitchell, and the Thunder have not missed a beat.
Now, someone is going to have to step up for Mitchell on Sunday, as he is officially out for Game 4 with a hamstring strain, the team announced Saturday. Mitchell was forced to leave Game 3 in the third quarter after he appeared to be injured on a play where he picked up a flagrant foul for his play on Stephon Castle, which led to a minor altercation when Devin Vassell stepped in (both received technicals for their trouble).
Williams is officially questionable with his hamstring strain, but it seems unlikely he would return as quickly as Sunday.
That will leave the Thunder without their second- and third-best ball handlers and two of their top four scorers in these playoffs. Mitchell was a force in the Lakers series and is averaging 15.1 points per game in the postseason, although that has fallen off to 5.3 points a game on 38.9% shooting against the Spurs.
It’s expected Daigneault will turn to Cason Wallace to start. That keeps the bench combo of Jared McCain, who scored 24 points in Game 3, and Alex Caruso, who provides disruptive defense and knocked down eight 3-pointers in Game 1 on his way to 31 points, together.
The availability of Spurs guards De’Aaron Fox (ankle) and Dylan Harper (adductor) has yet to be announced. Both played in Game 3, but Fox appeared to re-injure his ankle in a collision with Lu Dort going for a loose ball, and Harper was clearly slowed all night.
Oklahoma City leads the Western Conference Finals 2-1, making Game 4 critical for the Spurs if they are going to have a chance in this series. You can watch Game 4 at 8 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC, or stream it on Peacock.
Read the full article here