As Jalen Williams Returns, the NBA-Best Thunder Are Only Getting Scarier

The Thunder already lead the NBA with a record of 56–15 heading into the final weeks of the regular season. Their quest to win back-to-back titles is off to a very strong start.

And, Oklahoma City is about to get even better, something that barely seems possible. OKC is getting starting forward Jalen Williams back on Monday vs. the 76ers after he missed the last five-plus weeks with a hamstring strain, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported. In 26 starts this season, Williams is averaging 17.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.

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Williams has strained his hamstring twice this season, injuries that played a part in limiting him to just 26 starts. His most recent injury came on Feb. 11, just two days after returning to the court from recovering from his first strain. He also missed the first 19 games of the season as he was recovering from surgery on his right wrist.

Williams’s return is perfect timing for the Thunder ahead of the postseason. OKC was the first NBA team to clinch a playoff spot on Tuesday. Since then, the Spurs and Pistons have joined them. But, the reigning champions are still the team to beat. Adding one of last year’s NBA Finals stars back to the starting roster only makes the Thunder a scarier opponent for the rest of the league.

Wild stat shows how miraculous Thunder’s NBA-best record is

The Thunder hold the NBA’s best record at this point of the season, and the team’s accomplished this feat while dealing with injuries and absences from its star players. OKC players have missed the second-most time on the court this season behind the Grizzlies, per Charania, yet the team is dominating the league.

Want to hear an unbelievable statistic? The Thunder’s regular starting five combination from last year’s title run of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein have only played in five games together this season, for a total of 41 minutes, per NBA Advanced Stats.

Those five games include three losses to the Spurs (Dec. 13, 23, 25), the loss to the Timberwolves on Dec. 19, and a win over the 76ers on Dec. 28. That means the reigning championship starting five has gone 1–4 this season—yikes.

The starting five is expected to reunite on Monday vs. the 76ers, except that Dort missed Saturday’s game vs. the Wizards for a left knee contusion. We’ll see what his status ends up being for Monday night’s game. Otherwise, there will be delay before we see all five of these players in action together again.

Remaining schedule for Thunder

Williams rejoins the Thunder with just 11 games remaining in the regular season. Here’s a look at their schedule to finish out the season.

Date	Opponent
Monday, March 23	@ 76ers
Wednesday, March 25	@ Celtics
Friday, March 27	vs. Bulls
Sunday, March 29	vs. Knicks
Monday, March 30	vs. Pistons
Thursday, April 2	vs. Lakers
Sunday, April 5	vs. Jazz
Tuesday, April 7	@ Lakers
Wednesday, April 8	@ Clippers
Friday, April 10	@ Nuggets
Sunday, April 12	vs. Suns

The Thunder are currently on an 11-game winning streak, so we’ll see how much longer that continues for as they close out their season.

OKC is scheduled to face the top three Eastern Conference teams in their final 11 games—No. 1 Pistons (51–19, the second-best NBA record), No. 2 Celtics (47–23) and No. 3 Knicks (46–25). The Thunder will also face some playoff-hopeful Western Conference teams in the Lakers (46–25), Nuggets (43–28), Suns (39–32) and Clippers (35–36). It won’t be an easy ending to the season for the Thunder, that’s for sure.

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