Thunder to Open Second Half Without Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams
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The Oklahoma City Thunder will resume play after the All-Star break minus two of their biggest stars. The club announced Thursday that MVP guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and fellow starter Jalen Williams will remain sidelined as they continue to recover from injuries.
Gilgeous-Alexander, out since straining an abdominal muscle on Feb. 3, will be reevaluated in about one week. Williams, who re-aggravated a right hamstring strain on Feb. 11, is expected to be reexamined in roughly two weeks.
Reserve guard Ajay Mitchell also remains unavailable. He sprained his left ankle during the break while rehabbing an abdominal strain and will be checked again in about one week. Mitchell last appeared on Jan. 21 and has missed 11 straight games.
Gilgeous-Alexander sat out the final five contests before the break. Williams initially strained his hamstring on Jan. 17, missed 10 games, returned for a Feb. 9 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, then suffered a setback two nights later after scoring 28 points in 20 minutes at Phoenix.
Oklahoma City enters the stretch run at 42-14, three games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs atop the Western Conference. League-wide, the Detroit Pistons (40-13) hold a slight edge over the Thunder for the NBA’s best record and potential home-court advantage through the Finals.
The Thunder play four times in the next week, all without their top two scorers.
Source: ESPN
