The San Antonio Spurs and OKC Thunder played again, and the player injuries are piling up.
The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder matched up again on Wednesday night after their historic, impressive duel earlier this week. This time, the game wasn’t quite as thrilling, and now the series is knotted up at one game apiece as it shifts to San Antonio. But more importantly, on both sides, injuries continue to mount.
De’Aaron Fox hasn’t played in either of the two Western Conference Finals games. The Spurs guard has been dealing with an ankle sprain suffered during the previous round. San Antonio’s epic guard depth was tested, but they managed to steal Game 1 without him.
In Game 2, Fox still sat, and then fellow guard Dylan Harper joined him. The rookie, who was excellent in the series opener, went down with a hamstring and did not return. Harper had been starting for Fox, but now the Spurs are down two crucial guards.
” is as good as anybody,” coach Mitch Johnson said. “They turn you over. 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.”
Stephon Castle, the other primary guard and 2024-25 Rookie of the Year, has struggled against the Thunder’s swarming defense. He has 20 turnovers in two games, and some of them came at inopportune times in Game 2. If Fox and Harper are both out moving forward, Castle’s role will become even more important.
The Thunder had hoped that a long layoff between their sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers and Game 1 versus the Spurs would be enough time for Jalen Williams to get healthy. He’s been dealing with injuries all season long. It proved to be enough time, but in Game 2, Williams went down again.
As of now, his status is up in the air. “He’s going to get checked out,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I don’t deal in like hypotheticals, especially when doctors are involved. … We’ll see where he’s at. We’ll update him accordingly.”
Williams played 33 games this year, so the Thunder are equipped to deal with his absence if he can’t suit up for Game 3. “Obviously, if we don’t have him, it hurts,” NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I still believe in this team, though. We played a bunch of games without him, won big games without him. I still think we get the job done.”
Williams was coming off an All-NBA Third-Team nod in 2024-25 but was limited due to a variety of injuries. He looked to be back to his old self in the playoffs, though, as he had 26 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in Game 1 and added 19 points in 23 minutes before leaving in Game 2.
“Losing a guy like that, a caliber of player like that, no matter how good your team is otherwise, it hurts a little bit. And also for him as just like a human being, he’s had a tough year with injuries,” Gilgeous-Alexander added.
