The Western Conference Finals come down to a Saturday night battle between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs, but one pivotal player will be missing from the court.
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The Thunder will not have Jalen Williams as he continues to deal with a lingering left hamstring issue. He will only be able to watch as the Thunder try to win the all-important game that will break a 3-3 tie with the Spurs and lock up a spot in the NBA Finals.
The winner of this seven-game series will face off with the New York Knicks, who won the Eastern Conference with a 4-0 sweep over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Game 1 of the NBA Finals will take place on Wednesday night.
The hamstring injury has been an issue throughout the Western Conference Finals. Williams aggravated the injury in Game 2 and then he missed three games. He returned for Game 6 but only played 10 minutes. He made one of two free throw attempts and missed his lone shot from the floor.
"He's obviously not 100%," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said after a 118-91 loss, per ESPN. "He didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what to expect. So, it was a matter of getting him out there in kind of an insulated role and see what he can bring to the team.
"He's an All-Star player, he's an All-NBA player. He hasn't done a full return to play (protocol) like he would if this was the regular season, and yet, he just wants to do whatever he can to try to contribute whatever he can to the team.
"I give him a lot of credit to get himself out there. He did the best he could. He's certainly not the reason we lost."
Williams, the 12th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, has played in 248 games for the Thunder. He has averaged .509 from the floor and 18.0 points over four seasons. He was named All-Star last season after averaging a career-best 21.6 points per game.
However, Williams has struggled to stay on the court this season. He only played in 33 regular-season games due to recovering from an offseason surgery and then dealing with a hamstring injury.
