“He was special. He was really good tonight from start to finish. He picked his spots great. He was aggressive. He stepped into everything,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in praise of Jalen Williams after Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The tertiary power forward delivered one of his best performances of his ongoing post-season run, scoring 34 points through 13-24 (54.2%) field goals, 6-9 (66.7%) 3-pointers, and 2-2 (100.0%) free throws. Losing even one game against the Timberwolves caused the 24-year-old to deliver this exceptional performance. Therefore, one can only wonder how the player will deliver when it’s time to finally lock down the series and head on to the NBA Finals. While we don’t know the answer to that, we do know that the player will at least be healthy enough to give his best.
According to the Oklahoma City Thunder Injury Report, as highlighted by ESPN, Jalen Williams’ name is nowhere to be found. This means that Williams will be fully available to take on Anthony Edwards and Co. in the next few hours. It also means that the player’s troubles with his hip continue to be behind him. For now.
Jalen had barely recovered from his wrist injury, back in March, when he ended up sustaining a hip injury. The same occurred midway through the 2nd quarter of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 140-127 loss against the Denver Nuggets. Williams had a collision with Nuggets swingman Peyton Watson on a drive to the basket. It resulted in him falling hard, and directly on his right hip. Williams used the foul call awarded to him, went to the line for free throws, and remained in the contest for another few possessions. However, he checked out of the game with 5:10 left in the first half. He headed to the locker room and was ruled out for the remainder of the matchup.
After a brief hiatus, he was declared good to go in late March. However, the injury returned just before the matchup against the Utah Jazz on April 11th. Fortunately, that game and the Pelicans matchup after that one were the last games J Dub missed till now.
Feb 12, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) drives down the court between Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell (45) and center Bam Adebayo (13) during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
For the Oklahoma City Thunder, only 1 player is listed ‘OUT’. That is Nikola Topic. The 2024 Draft Pick had undergone a successful left ACL procedure back in July 2024. This caused him to miss the entirety of the 2024-25 season. An update in January had revealed that Topic had begun practicing and was taking part in light shooting drills. Unfortunately, his condition is still not good enough to allow him to compete. Meanwhile, no player is listed as ‘OUT’ for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In light of these updates, neither team will have to make adjustments to their starting lineup.
What will the starting lineup and depth chart for the OKC-Timberwolves Game 5 look like?
Jalen Williams has been proving himself most useful in OKC’s postseason run, and especially against the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the last 4 games, he has averaged 23.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. He could be better on the shooting front. After all, he averaged 8.8-17.8 (49.3%) field goals, 2.8-5.5 (50.0%) 3-pointers, and 2.8-3.3 (84.6%) free throws. Nevertheless, his ability to perform well against the Timberwolves’ defense is commendable.
Furthermore, Williams is not even among the starters. Therefore, along with Williams, others like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren can be depended upon to carry the offensive effort. In light of this, the starting lineup for the Oklahoma City Thunder is expected to look like this:
POSITION
STARTER
2ND
3RD
4TH
5TH
PG
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Cason Wallace
Ajay Mitchell
Alex Caruso
Nikola Topic (OUT)
SG
Luguentz Dort
Alex Caruso
Cason Wallace
Isaiah Joe
Aaron Wiggins
SF
Jalen Williams
Isaiah Joe
Aaron Wiggins
Luguentz Dort
Alex Caruso
PF
Chet Holmgren
Aaron Wiggins
Jalen Williams
Kenrich Williams
Dillon Jones
C
Isaiah Hartenstein
Jaylin Williams
Chet Holmgren
Kenrich Williams
Ousmane Dieng
Similarly, given the update for the Minnesota Timberwolves, their starting lineup will look like this:
POSITION
STARTER
2ND
3RD
4TH
5TH
PG
Mike Conley
Donte DiVincenzo
Rob Dillingham
Anthony Edwards
Bones Hyland
SG
Anthony Edwards
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Donte DiVincenzo
Terrence Shannon Jr.
Jaylen Clark
SF
Jaden McDaniels
Terrence Shannon Jr.
Jaylen Clark
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Donte DiVincenzo
PF
Julius Randle
Naz Reid
Jaden McDaniels
Joe Ingles
Leonard Miller
C
Rudy Gobert
Naz Reid
Luka Garza
Julius Randle
Leonard Miller
The Oklahoma City Thunder or the Minnesota Timberwolves? Who will you be rooting for? Let us know in the comments section down below.
The post Is Jalen Williams Playing Tonight? OKC vs Timberwolves Injury Report Confirms Status for WCF Game 5 appeared first on EssentiallySports.
