The Western Conference finals will be a heavyweight fight between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs. One of them just got a boost.
Thunder star Jalen Williams revealed via his YouTube channel on Friday that he will be healthy for the upcoming series after missing OKC’s previous six games with a hamstring strain.
From the video, which was recorded before the Thunder finished off a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this week:
“It’s good that I haven’t had to rush back from my hamstring stuff at all. I’m actually taking like extra days now than what was originally planned because we’re up 3-0, so there was no point in going into this series and possibly hurting myself before we have to play the Timberwolves or the Spurs.
“I’m about to go into another series healthy.”
The Thunder haven’t exactly struggled without Williams. They are 8-0 this postseason and had little trouble dispatching the Lakers and Phoenix Suns, the former of which was missing Luka Dončić.
The Spurs, however, figure to be a different animal. OKC and San Antonio posted the two best records in the NBA during the regular season with 64 and 62 wins, respectively, with the Spurs winning the season series 4-1.
Williams was arguably the Thunder’s second-most valuable player of their championship run last year and figures to fill a similar role this year, even if his regular-season numbers took a bit of a step back from 2024-25. His defense will certainly be important against a Spurs team with no shortage of perimeter threats around Victor Wembanyama.
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