Key Thunder Players Out for Game 7 Against Spurs

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell will not participate in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night due to ongoing injuries. Williams has struggled with a strained left hamstring throughout the playoffs, while Mitchell is dealing with a right soleus strain.

Williams missed a significant portion of the regular season, sitting out 49 of the 82 games due to wrist and hamstring problems. In the current playoff season, he will miss his 10th game due to the recurring hamstring issue. Although he participated in five playoff games, he only managed around 10 minutes of play in Thursday’s Game 6 loss to the Spurs.

Mitchell had initially stepped in as a starter in place of Williams, but he too fell victim to injury. As a result, the Thunder have been starting Jared McCain, who joins Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort, and Chet Holmgren in the lineup. The Spurs have announced no injuries ahead of Game 7.

For officiating, the NBA has assigned Marc Davis, John Goble, and Josh Tiven as the referees for Game 7. This marks the second Game 7 appearance in these playoffs for both Davis and Tiven. Davis previously officiated the final game of the Cleveland-Detroit series in Round 2, while Tiven refereed Game 7 of Orlando-Detroit in Round 1.