OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder announced some major positive injury news ahead of the start of the Western Conference finals, while the Spurs listed two key rotation players on their report.
After playing without Jalen Williams for their last six games due to a left hamstring strain, the top-seeded Thunder did not list the star forward on their injury report for Monday night’s game, meaning he will be available for the defending NBA champs for the first time since he scored 19 points in Game 2 in the first round against Phoenix on April 22.
Game 1 is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Paycom Center.
The upgrade comes after Williams declared himself healthy for the conference finals in a post to his YouTube channel Friday.
“It’s good that I haven’t had to rush back from my hamstring stuff at all,” Williams said, per ESPN. “I’m actually taking like extra days now than from what was originally planned because we were up 3-0 (against the Los Angeles Lakers), so there was no point in going into this series and possibly hurting myself before we play the Timberwolves or the Spurs.
“I’m about to go into another series healthy.”
In two postseason appearances this season, Williams has averaged 20.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 26.0 minutes per contest.
The second-seeded Spurs, meanwhile, listed guard De’Aaron Fox (right ankle soreness) and reserve center Luke Kornet (left foot soreness) as questionable.
It’s the second time in recent days Fox has been listed as questionable. He was also iffy for Game 5 in the second round series against Minnesota last Wednesday but wound up finishing with 18 points, five assists and four rebounds in 34 minutes of the 126-97 win in San Antonio.
The ankle injury also surfaced in Game 6 on Friday when the All-Star guard was forced to head to the locker room late in the first half for treatment. He returned for the start of the second half and finished with 21 points, nine assists and four rebounds in 24 minutes.
In that same game, Kornet had six points, six rebounds and a playoff-best four blocks in 14 minutes.
Fox’s teammates and coach praised him for playing through pain.
“For him to go out there and put his body on the line, it means so much to us,” forward Keldon Johnson said. “It shows you how tough he is. He’s tough as nails. He really set the tone for us even though he was on a bum ankle. He really set the tone in the last two games from the jump. So he was a big part of our success.”
“He’s one of the toughest guys in the league,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of Fox. “He doesn’t miss any games. He’s one of the guys he doesn’t talk about (pain) much, doesn’t show much.”