Thunder Without Jalen Williams Went 39-10 Last Season, but Sunday Also Took Cason Wallace and Jaylin Williams

Photo: NBA.com. Official Jalen Williams headshot, Oklahoma City Thunder.

Jalen Williams drove to the basket with 1:14 left against the Clippers on Sunday night, went down under the rim and was taken off the court on a stretcher with towels over his left leg, per the AP. The game was stopped for about five minutes. Oklahoma City finished a 108-101 win to go 3-0.

There was no diagnosis from the Thunder on Sunday night. Coach Mark Daigneault said the team would be briefed Monday morning on Williams' condition. "We're not doing great," he said, per the AP. Until the Thunder say more, the length of any absence is unknown.

What can be measured is what Oklahoma City already had to cover on Sunday, and what it covered last season.

OKC has played without him before

Williams played 33 regular-season games in 2025-26, per his ESPN game log, after a run of wrist and hamstring injuries. The Thunder went 25-8 in those games and 39-10 in the 49 he missed, by our count from the ESPN schedule and game log. Their average margin was plus-12.7 with him and plus-10.1 without him, also by our count.

So the regular-season case that the Thunder fall apart without him is weak. The difference this time is who else is hurt.

Three players, 60 minutes a night

Cason Wallace left Sunday's game in the first quarter with left shoulder soreness, and Jaylin Williams left in the first quarter with right wrist soreness. Neither returned, per the AP.

Over the first three games, Jalen Williams played 95 minutes, second on the team behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 107, per the ESPN box scores. Wallace played 49 and Jaylin Williams played 37. That is 181 minutes from the three players who left Sunday, or about 60 of the 240 available each night, by our count. No status has been announced for Wallace or Jaylin Williams either.

On Monday they may have to replace a quarter of their minutes, and they play Phoenix at home that night, the second game of a back-to-back.

What goes with him on both ends

Williams was not having a big scoring start. He had 41 points on 15-of-39 shooting through three games, plus 10 assists, per the ESPN box scores. On Sunday he had eight points, five assists, two steals and a block in 32 minutes and was plus-7.

Williams is listed as a guard-forward by NBA.com, and Wallace, the other starter who left Sunday, had two steals in six minutes before his shoulder took him out, per the ESPN box score.

On offense, Williams has been the second-highest scorer on the team behind Gilgeous-Alexander, 41 points to 83, by our count from the box scores.

Sunday's other lines

Ajay Mitchell scored 18 on 8-of-14 shooting off the bench Sunday with six rebounds, four assists and three steals, per the AP. Through three games he has 34 points and 10 assists in 74 minutes, per the ESPN box scores, the same assist total as Williams in 21 fewer minutes.

Alex Caruso was plus-18 in 22 minutes Sunday with seven rebounds, six assists and two steals, and he is plus-51 for the season, the best mark on the team by our count from the box scores.

Jared McCain went 1-of-8 on Sunday and has 27 points in 61 minutes this season.

Daigneault's Monday briefing comes first. The Phoenix game comes that night.

Sources

• AP: Thunder lose Jalen Williams to serious lower leg injury. Oct. 25, 2026. 1:14 left, stretcher, no immediate diagnosis, Daigneault's Monday briefing and quote, next game vs. Phoenix.
• NBA.com: Thunder lose Jalen Williams to serious lower leg injury. Oct. 25, 2026. AP report as carried by the league, including the five-minute stoppage.
• AP recap via ESPN: Thunder stay undefeated with a 108-101 victory over the Clippers. Oct. 25, 2026. Box score plus the injury notes on Wallace and Jaylin Williams.
• ESPN: Jalen Williams game log. 2025-26 games played and 2026-27 game lines.
• ESPN: Thunder 2025-26 schedule and results. Results used for the with-and-without record.
• ESPN box scores: Thunder at Spurs, Oct. 20 and Nuggets at Thunder, Oct. 22. Minutes, points, assists and plus-minus.
• Hoops Rumors: Jalen Williams stretchered off court after suffering apparent leg injury. Oct. 25, 2026. 33 regular-season games last season.
• USA Today: Jalen Williams injures leg, exits Thunder-Clippers game on stretcher. Oct. 25, 2026. 1:14 left in the fourth quarter.
• NBA.com: Jalen Williams player page. Listed position.

The Dyme counted the 2025-26 with-and-without record and margins from the ESPN schedule and game log, and totaled the minutes, points and assists from the three 2026-27 ESPN box scores.