After suffering a hip strain in the second half of a Thunder victory over Denver on Monday, Oklahoma City All-Star forward Jalen Williams was ruled out for Wednesday’s road contest against Boston, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
In an eventual 118-112 Thunder win, Aaron Wiggins drew the start in Williams’ absence. Following its success against Boston on Wednesday, Oklahoma City has now ensured that it will be able to avoid the play-in tournament in the West, the NBA revealed (via Twitter).
Bontemps tweets that Williams did not travel with the Thunder for their current road trip. Reigning Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault has indicated that the team has yet to determine a recovery timeline for the 6’5″ forward.
Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:
- Bulls guard Josh Giddey sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter of an eventual 121-103 win over Indiana on Monday. The 6’8″ pro, a restricted free agent this summer, was in a walking boot briefly to stabilize the ailment, but head coach Billy Donovan revealed that he is now out of the boot, per KC Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). Although Giddey is recovering well, Donovan noted that he expected the starter to “be out for a little bit,” per Johnson. Johnson tweets that Giddey is engaging in toe raises and walking, but has no return timeline until Chicago brass can gauge how he holds up in on-court workouts. Giddey indicated that he will travel with the team for its upcoming road trip, according to Johnson (via Twitter).
- In the loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Celtics starting center Kristaps Porzingis sat out his seventh straight game due to a viral illness, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters pregame that he did not have a sense of when the 7’2″ big man would be available, with the postseason just a month away. 38-year-old veteran big man Al Horford started in Porzingis’ stead.
- A medical recommendation inspired 21-time All-Star Lakers forward LeBron James to depart L.A.’s road trip and return home for further treatment on his groin strain, sources inform Shams Charania of ESPN. Los Angeles will wrap up the road trip with games in Milwaukee and Denver on Thursday and Friday, respectively. James departed the Lakers’ Saturday loss to Boston in the fourth quarter, and it’s estimated that he will miss at least 1-2 weeks with the injury.