Jalen Williams injured his hamstring in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 2 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

The Thunder defeated the Suns 120-107. The Thunder now leads the series two games to zero.

In the third quarter, Williams was driving to the basket on a fast break. Williams missed the layup and immediately grabbed his left hamstring. Despite receiving some contact from Devin Booker, the injury appeared not to be contact-related. Williams attempted to stay in the game. However, he fouled Booker and limped to the locker room. 

Williams was having a strong game before his injury with 19 points. He didn’t return for the rest of the game, but the Thunder still won behind 37 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and four blocks from Chet Holmgren. 

Williams missed the first 19 games of the season due to a right wrist injury. On Jan. 17, Williams suffered a right hamstring injury against the Miami Heat. He missed 10 games in January and February. He attempted to return on Feb. 9. Although he scored over 20 points in two games, he still dealt with pain and was forced to miss 16 more games.

Williams hurt his left hamstring in the game against the Suns. However, a study by Accu-Med Diagnostic Centers found that when one hamstring is injured, the body often overcompensates by placing more pressure on the other leg. This can lead to increased risk of non-contact hamstring injuries, which is what Williams suffered. 

In July 2025, the Thunder gave Williams a five-year, $239 million extension. This will make Williams the 32nd-highest-paid player in the league, tied with teammate Holmgren. The Thunder hope he can find a way to stay healthy during the massive contract.

He is currently listed as day-to-day for Game 3 of the first-round series against the Suns. 

The comeback kids tried their hardest, but couldn’t pull off one more miracle.

The Oklahoma City Thunder took a 3-2 lead over the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals, winning 120-109. The Thunder led by as much as 18, and despite making the game close at times, the Pacers never led in the second half.

Jalen Williams led the way for OKC, finishing with 40 points and six rebounds on 14-25 from the field. NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points and ten assists.

Williams also finished with a game-high 14 points.

“I’m blessed to be in a situation where everybody wants everyone to succeed,” Williams said. “It’s a fortunate situation that I get to be in.”

Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton injured his calf in the first quarter and was limping off the court. He returned in the second quarter but was impacted by the injury.

Haliburton finished with just four points, his lowest total of both the Finals and the playoffs.

“It’s the Finals, man. I’ve worked my whole life to be here, and I want to be out there to compete,” Haliburton said.

Pascal Siakam was the Pacers’ leading scorer, finishing with 28 points on 9-15 from the field. T.J. McConnell led all bench players with 18 points off the bench.

Game six is on Thursday in Indiana. If the Thunder win, they become the 2025 NBA Champions. If the Pacers win, they force a game seven.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s chances were dwindling as their 18-point lead had gone all the way down to just a two-point lead when the ball swung to Jalen Williams on the right wing.

Williams, a first-time All-Star in his third season, rose to the moment by rattling in a 3-pointer to halt the Indiana Pacers’ momentum.

It was the most important moment of the most impressive performance of Williams’ budding career, a 40-point outing to lead the Thunder to a 120-109 win in Monday’s pivotal Game 5 of the NBA Finals. That 3-pointer sparked an 18-6 run that put the game away for the Thunder and put the franchise in a prime position to win its first championship since moving to Oklahoma City, as teams that win Game 5 after tying the series 2-2 have a significant chance to win it all.

“He was really gutsy tonight,” 2025 MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He stepped into big plays. Felt like every time we needed a shot, he made it. He wasn’t afraid. He was fearless tonight.”

Gilgeous-Alexander delivered another outstanding performance, scoring 31 points, dishing out 10 assists, blocking 2 shots and coming up with a pair of steals that helped fuel the fourth quarter run. It was his 15th 30-point performance of this playoff run, a total exceeded during a single postseason by only Michael Jordan in 1992 and Hakeem Olajuwon in 1995.

But as much as Gilgeous-Alexander steals the show every night for the Thunder, Game 5 was Williams’ show to steal.

The 24-year-old set a new playoff career high with 40 points on 14-of-25 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, topping his 34-point performance in the Thunder’s Game 4 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals. He put himself in some exclusive company, becoming the third-youngest player to score at least 40 points in a Finals game, trailing only Magic Johnson and Russell Westbrook.

“It’s something more that I’ll look back on later than worry about what kind [of] statement it makes,” said Williams postgame, who also had six rebounds and four assists in the win. “I think the only statement we have right now is we’re up 3-2 and we have to still go earn another win.

After a hard-fought series, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets in seven games to reach the Western Conference finals, which they haven’t done since 2016. After a long series, the players can finally relax and prepare for the next series, except star forward Jalen Williams left this series with a gift from the NBA.

The Oklahoma City Thunder star forward was given a $25,000 fine from the NBA on Monday for wearing a shirt that said, “F— art, let’s dance,” to his postgame press conference after the Thunder’s series win over the Nuggets on Sunday.

The NBA officially fined the star forward for “wearing clothing with profane language” during the postgame media session. This policy is enforced consistently to maintain a standard of proper behavior and respect within the league.

In game seven against the Nuggets, Williams recorded 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the Thunder’s victory over the Nuggets, which will take them to the Western Conference finals, where they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves to see who will represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.

In the regular season, the Thunder split the season series against the Timberwolves 2-2. Williams averaged 19.8 points, 6.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds against the Timberwolves.

The two franchises have not faced each other in the playoffs since 1998, when the Oklahoma City Thunder was based in Seattle and called the Seattle SuperSonics. The SuperSonics beat the Timberwolves in five games in a best-of-five series in the first round.

Game one of the Western Conference finals is set to begin on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma City Thunder swept the Memphis Grizzlies despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, an MVP finalist, underperforming early on in the series.

With 38 points on 13-of-24 shooting, Gilgeous-Alexander closed out the Grizzlies in Game 4, leading the Thunder to a 117-115 win.

“I didn’t think he played any different,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “I just think he got into a groove.”

Despite shooting only 35.3% — his worst three-game stretch of the season — Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder blew out the Grizzlies in both home games and pulled off a 29-point comeback in Game 3.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the league with 32.7 points per game on 51.9% shooting this season, started Game 4 with the hot hand, hitting his first seven shots and scoring 16 points in the first quarter.

“I’m impressed with my level to, I guess, stay with it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “In the past, I, for sure, would’ve turned down the aggressiveness a little bit. I think I made a jump as far as that this year. That’s something I’m definitely proud of. I try not to focus on the results and just focus on my mental development. I think I’ve taken a step forward in that, and I had a night like tonight because of it.

“In the past, I definitely would’ve shied away from the moment because of where my shooting was headed. I think I’ve taken a step mentally, but I think I’ve done so all season and been paid off in the moment in the night where we needed it.”

First-time All-Star Jalen Williams delivered for the Thunder throughout the series, putting up 23.3 points and 5.3 assists per game and closed out the Grizzlies with a 23-point, five-assist performance in Game 4.

Oklahoma City survived a cold night from three — making only seven-of-35 — thanks to Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, and an aggressive defense that forced 22 Memphis turnovers and converted them into 32 points. The Grizzlies were without Ja Morant, sidelined by a left hip contusion.

The Thunder racked up 103 points off turnovers against the Grizzlies.

The Thunder finished the season with the NBA’s top-ranked defense and led the league in points off turnovers at 21.8 per game.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s three consecutive rough shooting games were unexpected, though his teammates were quick to defend his overall impact before the series finale.

“I think he played a hell of a series,” Chet Holmgren said. “He was making the right plays all series, making the right reads, trusting people, and that’s been really helpful, not only for myself, but for [Williams], for everybody down the list. And I don’t see that changing. He’s going to continue to play great. And when that ball’s going in at a high clip, you guys are going to be up here asking me how special he was that night.”

The Thunder are set to take on the winner of the Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Clippers series in the second round.