Thunder’s Jalen Williams ruled out for Game 5, Jared McCain to start

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder were forced to make another lineup change for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night after Jalen Williams was downgraded from questionable to out because of a strained left hamstring. Williams had been listed as questionable throughout the day, but the team ultimately ruled him unavailable as it continued to manage the injury that has kept him sidelined in recent games.

Ajay Mitchell, who usually steps into Williams’ starting role, was also ruled out earlier because of a strained right soleus. With both players unavailable, the Thunder turned to Jared McCain, who was inserted into the starting lineup alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Lugentz Dort. It was the first playoff start of McCain’s career.

McCain entered Tuesday averaging 8.8 points in 12 playoff games off the bench for Oklahoma City. His promotion reflected the Thunder’s need to adjust their rotation as injuries continued to affect the roster during the postseason.

Williams briefly returned for Game 1 of the series, producing 26 points in 37 minutes during Oklahoma City’s 122-115 double-overtime loss. He then played only seven minutes in Game 2, scoring four points, before leaving the rotation again. One of his highlights in that short appearance was an alley-oop dunk late in the first quarter. He has not played since then.

The injury absence has been a major theme in Williams’ season. He has now missed 58 of Oklahoma City’s 95 games, including playoff contests. Of those missed games, 19 were because of a right wrist issue, while the remaining 39 were tied to hamstring problems. His right hamstring kept him out for 30 regular-season games, and the current left hamstring strain has now cost him nine playoff games.

The Thunder entered Game 5 still trying to navigate the impact of those absences while relying on depth and lineup flexibility in a critical postseason matchup.