Two of the key contributors for their teams in Game 1 — Spurs rookie guard Dylan Harper and Thunder star Jalen Williams — both could not finish Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals due to what appears to be hamstring injuries.
Both are set to undergo an MRI, reports Tim MacMahon and Michael C. Wright of ESPN. The status for both in Game 3 — and the rest of the series — remains in question.
Williams missed six Thunder playoff games — two against the Suns and the entire Lakers series — with a left hamstring strain, and that was the leg again getting treatment. After a 26-point, seven-rebound performance in Game 1, Williams played just seven minutes in Game 2 before leaving the game, getting treatment on the bench for a while before going back to the locker room and being ruled out for the night.
It’s been an injury-plagued season for Williams, who made an All-NBA team a season ago and was a critical part of Oklahoma City’s title run, but played in just 33 games this season due to recovery from wrist surgery and then a right hamstring strain.
Harper, the Spurs rookie, had a breakout Game 1 starting in place of the injured De’Aaron Fox (ankle): 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and seven steals. However, he left the game in the third quarter of Game 2 not to return, with what appeared to be a right hamstring injury.
Harper’s absence as a ball-handler, alongside Fox missing both games this series due to ongoing ankle soreness after rolling it in the last series against Minnesota, has put a lot of pressure on Stephon Castle as the primary ball-handler and shot-creator against an elite defensive team in Oklahoma City. The result is that Castle has 20 turnovers through the two games of this Western Conference Finals.
“They turn you over,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of the Thunder after Game 2. “So when you’re down some of your primary creators and initiators, it causes a little bit of an extra strain, whether that’s who to play, what to play, what to run, etc. It’s tough fully loaded against these guys.”
We should have official word on Harper and Williams as we move closer to the tip-off of Game 3, on Friday night in San Antonio (tip-off at 8:30 p.m. ET, a game you can catch on NBC or stream on Peacock).
However, it seems unlikely either Harper or Williams would play in Game 3, and their status for the rest of the series may be up in the air.
