Is Jalen Williams Playing Tonight? (Injury Update, Betting Impact for Lakers vs. Thunder Game 1)

Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams is dealing with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for the end of the first round against the Phoenix Suns, and it appears that he could miss a good chunk of the team's series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Williams has been ruled out for Game 1 on Tuesday night, and Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault revealed that the All-Star wing is still week-to-week with the injury.

Status alert: Jalen Williams (hamstring) remains week-to-week, per coach Daigneault.
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) May 4, 2026

Oklahoma City remains a massive favorite in this series (-1600) and in Game 1 (-15.5), but Williams' injury is certainly concerning for the Thunder going forward. During the regular season, Oklahoma City was 39-10 in the 49 games that Williams missed, but since the playoff schedule is every other day in the second round, it's possible that Williams could miss this whole series if he misses more than a week.

With Williams out, the Thunder will rely more on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Ajay Mitchell and Chet Holmgren to initiate offense in this series. The Lakers are also down a key player in Luka Doncic (hamstring), so oddsmakers haven't shifted any of the odds in L.A.'s favor ahead of Game 1.

Here's a look at my favorite player prop for OKC with Williams sidelined to start the Western Conference semifinals.

Best Thunder Prop Bet vs. Lakers

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 30+ Points (-174)

Earlier today, I shared in my NBA Best Bets column – Peter’s Points – why SGA could have a big game to open this series:

Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.1 points per game in the regular season, and he dominated against Phoenix in the first round, scoring 31 or more points in the final three games of the series.

The star guard is going to get all the shots he can handle, and he was ultra-efficient against the Suns, knocking down 55.1 percent of his shots from the field. The Lakers don’t have a ton of great guard defenders after Marcus Smart, and SGA easily scored over 20 points in all three of his meetings with them – even though OKC won most of those games in blowouts.

Since the Thunder are likely to give the reigning MVP a longer leash in the playoffs, I like moving his points prop down from 31.5 to 30-plus in Game 1.

SGA has averaged 30.2, 29.9 and 33.8 points per game over his last three playoff runs (including this season).

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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