Without context, it’s unsurprising that the Oklahoma City Thunder currently sit both at the top of the Western Conference standings and possess the NBA’s best record. After all, they are the reigning champions that essentially brought back their 2025 championship-winning roster for another run.
Greatness is the bare minimum expectation for this Thunder team. Full stop.
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It is, however, surprising to learn about how the Thunder have managed to be at or near the top of the NBA again. That’s because injuries have kind of ravaged Oklahoma City this season, with guys like reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Thunder role players being forced to pick up the slack more than anyone would like. Amongst all these injury troubles, Gilgeous-Alexander’s running mate, Jalen Williams, has had the biggest absence. After an All-NBA, All-Defense, and All-Star season last year, Williams has played in just 29 of a possible 74 games so far, largely due to recent hamstring issues.
And yet, there the Thunder, pacing the entire NBA again. Huh.
The good news for the Thunder moving forward is that they appear to finally be healthy, at least regarding their regular rotation. Williams, for one, already has three recent games under his belt, scoring 18 points twice. Ahead of their Sunday Night Basketball game against the New York Knicks, forward Brooks Barnhizer and C Thomas Sorber are the only players listed on Oklahoma City’s injury report. Neither is a significant rotation player at this point.
The Thunder are threading a very difficult needle here. They managed to stay afloat despite their injury problems, have those injured players back, and now they integrate them while also still pushing the guys who stayed healthy to pick up the slack for just a little longer. We’ll see how they fare in their mission.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Thunder injury update: Is OKC fully healthy for Knicks matchup?