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After announcing the news surrounding Isaiah Hartenstein’s hand injury on Thursday, the Oklahoma City Thunder were dealt another injury to their frontcourt in Friday’s preseason finale against the Atlanta Hawks. Jalen Williams suffered a left ankle sprain in the second quarter. Head coach Mark Daigneault addressed Williams’ injury after the Thunder’s 104-99 win.
“Left ankle sprain… we’ll check in the morning,” Daigneault said.
Williams turned his ankle on a drive to the hoop and appeared in great pain. Slow to get up, he eventually made his way to the Thunder locker room.
When asked if he hesitated to play his starters in the last exhibition, given that Hartenstein’s left-hand fracture will force him to miss the start of the regular season next week, Daigneault, the fifth-year head coach, said he had no second thoughts.
“Nah, we obviously didn’t, but it’s tough. You’re also trying to prime them and get them ready for games, and you can’t bubble-wrap the team before the season. That actually puts you at more risk than playing, in our opinion,” Daigneault said. “It’s a balance, I hear you, and we obviously see the injuries. The Hartenstein one is a tough break. But at the end of the day, we handle it as best we can.
“With the information we have, we think we’ve handled it well in the past and into this year. So, it didn’t really change our approach,” Daigneault concluded.
Williams’ name has been added to a Thunder injury list multiplied over the past 24 hours, joining Hartenstein, third-year forward Kenrich Williams (knee surgery), forward/center Jaylin Williams (broken hand), and the 12th overall pick Nikola Topic, who’s ruled out for the season with an ACL injury.
Fortunately for OKC, Jalen Williams’ injury wasn’t severe, and it sounds like he’ll be ready for the start of the regular season, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
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“The left ankle sprain suffered by Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams is “not severe,” sources told ESPN,” MacMahon reported on Friday.
Kenrich and J-Will will be reevaluated before next week’s season opener.
Isaiah Hartenstein to miss start of the season with hand fracture
The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that Isaiah Hartenstein sustained a small, non-displaced fracture in his left hand during Tuesday’s second half of the Thunder’s 124-94 preseason win against the Denver Nuggets. He will be reevaluated in five to six weeks, a disappointing beginning for Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and his revamped frontcourt.
The Thunder could be without their newly acquired veteran center for the first two months of the regular season, as OKC will face the Nuggets in their regular-season opener next Thursday.
