Thunder Provide Jalen Williams Update Before Facing Magic

Despite dealing with injuries to key players like Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, and others throughout the 2025-26 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder are still at the top of the NBA’s standings with a 53-15 record.

The latest case of the injury bug has been dealt to Jalen Williams, who’s been out since Feb. 11 with a lingering hamstring strain. Oklahoma City ruled the forward out for Tuesday’s contest against the Orlando Magic.

Center Branden Carlson will miss the contest with a back injury, and Thomas Sorber continues to recover from offseason surgery to address a torn ACL and is listed as out.

Brooks Barnhizer and Nikola Topic won’t be available either while they continue a G League assignment.

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Jalen Williams’ Injury-Riddled 2025-26 Season

Jalen Williams has been dealt unfortunate setbacks all throughout the 2025-26 season.

The 24-year-old underwent surgery to repair a torn scapholunate ligament in his shooting wrist during the offseason. It was an injury Williams suffered during the Thunder’s championship run in 2025, but he elected to hold off the surgery until after Oklahoma City secured its first championship in franchise history.

The procedure resulted in Williams missing the first 19 games of the 2025-26 regular season.

After returning on Nov. 28 and playing the next 24 games, Jalen Williams suffered a right hamstring strain in the Thunder’s loss to the Miami Heat on Jan. 17.

He would return on Feb. 11 after missing the next 11 games, but would re-aggravate the hamstring injury. Williams hasn’t made his return since then, but head coach Mark Daigneault revealed that the 2025 All-Star is progressing well in his recovery.

Williams is still without a timetable to return, however, it appears that he can be coming back to the lineup sooner rather than later.

After being labeled as out for Tuesday against the Orland Magic, Williams will miss his 14th straight contest. His next opportunity to suit up will be in the second half of the Thunder’s back-to-back on Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets.

It appears that the Thunder aren’t worried in getting Williams back as soon as possible. Instead, the team is set on getting him healthy for another push for a championship this postseason.

His injuries have resulted in a down year for the fourth-year forward. Through 26 appearances this season, Jalen Williams is averaging 17.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 47.9% from the field and 31.3% from three.

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Thunder Continue to Push For Back-to-Back NBA Titles

Despite key players such as Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Ajay Mitchell, and Alex Caruso missing significant time this season, the Thunder are still sitting at the top of the NBA’s standings.

With a 53-15 record, Oklahoma City is currently riding an eight-game winning streak and has won 11 of its last 12.

ESPN’s latest power rankings have the Thunder at the No. 1 spot. They are followed by the San Antonio Spurs at No. 2 and the Boston Celtics at No. 3.

Although the Thunder have been the top team in the West for much of this season, the Spurs are just 3.5 games behind them for the No. 1 seed in the conference. With 14 games remaining in the regular season for OKC, they will remain all gas and no brakes to secure home-court advantage for the NBA Playoffs.

Toran Flores is a sports reporter located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He’s covered news in the NFL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, and college sports. His work has been featured on platforms like FanSided, Athlon Sports, The Sporting News, Lakers All Day Everyday, and others.

In his free time, Toran enjoys spending time with family and friends, staying active, and traveling. More about Toran Flores