Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said the team was struggling to process Jalen Williams’ injury after the All-Star guard was stretchered off the court during Sunday’s 108-101 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Williams went down with 1:14 remaining after driving to the basket. He left the court on a stretcher with towels covering his left leg, leaving his teammates and the crowd at Paycom Center concerned.
“Those are tough, man,” Daigneault said after the game. “We’re not doing great. You know, that’s tough on the guys. Everyone empathizes. I think both teams in those situations. And so, yeah, not doing great.”
The Thunder coach did not have an update on Williams’ condition after the game. Oklahoma City planned to regroup Monday morning and assess the situation before its next game against the Phoenix Suns.
“No updates,” Daigneault said when asked about Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace. “Obviously Jalen, that one speaks for itself. Cason and Jay will check out tomorrow and have an update as appropriate.”
Wallace left in the first quarter with left shoulder soreness, while forward Jaylin Williams also exited early with right wrist soreness. Neither returned.
Daigneault said his immediate priority was bringing the team together rather than looking ahead to the challenges that might follow.
“It starts with, I think, just getting everybody regrouping in a situation like that, especially when it’s ugly like that, which is what we’ll focus on first before we move on to anything else,” he said. “We’ll come in tomorrow. We’ll get everybody together. We’ll have more information for the team at that time.”
The coach also thanked fans and the Clippers for showing support as Williams was helped off the floor.
“Anybody that’s in the arena can empathize with that,” Daigneault said. “Appreciate our fans for doing so. Appreciate the Clippers for doing so.”
Despite the difficult finish, Oklahoma City improved to 3-0. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 34 points, while Ajay Mitchell added 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals off the bench. Isaiah Hartenstein recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Asked whether having another game on Monday would help the team move forward, Daigneault acknowledged the difficulty of the situation.
“Help, hurt,” he said. “Obviously, the schedule’s going to keep rolling and we’ll keep rolling with it. But like I said, we’ll focus more on just coming together tomorrow, 10:30 in the morning with the team and taking it from there.”
Oklahoma City hosts Phoenix on Monday, while the Clippers return home to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
