OKLAHOMA CITY — As the final seconds waned, the final result became irrelevant. With 74 seconds left to go in regulation, Jalen Williams' bad landing completely zapped the energy of the building. The All-NBA talent landed awkwardly on his left leg after going up for a dunk. He eventually needed help getting carted off the floor.
The Oklahoma City Thunder collected a 108-101 win over the LA Clippers. But that obviously takes a backseat to a night that could alter the franchise's path forever.
Bad omens were all over the place from the jump. First, Cason Wallace injured his shoulder as he fought over a screen from Isaiah Jackson. He went to the locker room. As the Thunder tried to shake that off, they had a little bit of a slow start with a 23-20
deficit after the first quarter.
As the second quarter was about to start, Jaylin Williams walked to the locker room. He was eventually ruled out with a wrist injury, too. The Thunder continued to walk through mud on offense. They only had 20 points in the frame. After a while, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dragged OKC to a competent offense.
The Thunder entered halftime in a 46-43 deficit. It was another game where the offense just couldn't run its engine without stuttering. The same continued in the second half. Albeit, things looked a little smoother with Jared McCain starting in place of Wallace. They had 34 points in the third quarter. Alex Caruso and Kenrich Williams were two veterans OKC relied on to spark some energy as it forced turnovers every other possession.
Eventually, the Thunder had a 77-76 lead after the third quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander turned into a one-man scoring machine. Ajay Mitchell rediscovered his touch around the rim. Things were going well as it looked like OKC would get by with a close — but ugly — win over a rebuilding LA squad. And then Williams' devastating injury happened.
As Williams went up for a driving dunk, Kris Dunn crashed into him mid-air. His left leg was then trapped underneath him. It bent in the wrong direction. The Thunder medical staff quickly wrapped it in towels. Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of OKC knelt and were in tears. As he was slowly put on a stretcher, the quiet OKC crowd chanted his nickname and barked in support.
The Thunder eventually closed things out. Dunn was handed a flagrant foul for what he did to Williams. They scored 31 points to squeak by. Darius Garland tried to get them back into it to no avail. But obviously, nobody cares about that right now. Instead, it's about how severe his injury is and how OKC goes from there.
The Thunder shot 45% from the field and went 8-of-24 (33.3%) from 3. They shot 16-of-17 on free throws. They had 23 assists on 42 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 34 points and five assists. Chet Holmgren had 10 points and four rebounds. Hartenstein finished with a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double. Mitchell dropped 18 points and six rebounds. Caruso had 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Meanwhile, the Clippers shot 46% from the field and went 15-of-38 (39.5%) from 3. They shot 12-of-15 on free throws. They had 30 assists on 37 baskets. Seven Clippers players scored double-digit points.
Garland had 16 points and 11 assists. Dunn finished with 15 points and six assists. Derrick Jones Jr. finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Brook Lopez scored 15 points off of the bench. Kobe Sanders had 12 points and four rebounds. Jackson had 10 points and six rebounds. Keaton Wagler also looked nice with 11 points and five rebounds.
Walking around Paycom Center in the aftermath felt like being at a funeral. All of the Thunder players who talked kept it short. Still shell-shocked, they all repeated the same messages of pulling for Williams to get over this latest catastrophic injury.
For now, the Thunder have to feel their feelings. That's part of the grieving process. It's OK to feel like you were punched in the gut when Williams landed badly. He's been your teammate for years. You saw firsthand what it was like to see him go through an injury-plagued year. Now, it looks like he'll embark on another lengthy road to recovery.
Let's look at Thunder player grades:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
Covering his face by stretching the collar of his jersey, Gilgeous-Alexander was in tears. That much you can tell. As Williams was carted off the floor following a catastrophic injury, the two-time MVP winner did just enough to give the Thunder the forgettable win.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting, six rebounds and five assists. He shot 1-of-5 from 3 and went 7-of-8 on free throws. He also had two steals and one block.
With everybody else struggling to get going, Gilgeous-Alexander had to eventually carry the offense. Constant drives to the rim were back in his repertoire. As the Clippers played a football-esque style of defense, that was the only offense the Thunder could drum up. Ensuring they came away with the win, he had 23 points in the second half.
It was a return to form for Gilgeous-Alexander. His shot diet was mostly jumper-happy through two games. But the 28-year-old sliced through LA's defense. He contorted his body to get around Dunn's contest a few times for flashy layups. While the rest of the Thunder took care of business on defense, he put their head above water on offense as the sole creator.
Eventually, Gilgeous-Alexander slammed shut the door. He shot Williams' free throws after Dunn's flagrant foul. Obviously, though, he was on autopilot. And so was the rest of the Thunder and OKC crowd. They got the win, but it felt like a franchise-altering loss. Now we await what happens next for OKC. We're only three games into the 2026-27 regular season.
Work on both ends ↔️ pic.twitter.com/qF5RzPQuVe
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 25, 2026
Took it ➡️ took off pic.twitter.com/PiOYAWvNsu
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 25, 2026
SGA 🤝 buckets pic.twitter.com/FyzvmXd0xb
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 26, 2026
2-way Shai 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/L3U2KqJeAr
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 26, 2026
Jalen Williams: C
For years, Williams has made the slashing drive to the rim part of his trademark. That's how he became an All-NBA talent. That's how he became an All-Defensive talent. And that's how he became an NBA champion. But with a little over a minute to go to close this out, his life has completely changed in a nexus moment.
Williams finished with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting, five assists and two rebounds. He shot 0-of-1 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had two steals and one block.
The performance is whatever. The grade is irrelevant. I just want a platform to fully type out all my thoughts on Williams' serious-looking leg injury. Especially if it's as season-defining and franchise-altering as it looked. More of my comments will materialize in the coming days and months as we determine what this means for the Thunder and Williams.
First off — Wow. Poor Williams. With an ample amount of adrenaline running through him, he tried to get up. But it was obvious, pretty clearly, that this wasn't your average NBA fender-bender. The medical staff sprinted over. The cart came out. All of his Thunder teammates knelt, prayed or cried. Soon, the OKC crowd went absolutely silent before it rallied around him with cheers and chants.
Wow. Just wow. On a human level, you feel for Williams. He had an injury-plagued year last season. Now, this. It isn't even Halloween yet. We'll see what the severity is, but it looked gravely serious. To the point that you have to wonder what the long-term ramifications are. Which segues to my second point.
What do the Thunder do now? Assuming Williams is out for the foreseeable future, this completely shakes up the championship board. If he can't return this season, you ride things out. Knowing you likely won't win an NBA championship. OK. This year is a wash due to injuries. But after that? Who knows. That's for OKC's front office to figure out.
For now, though, none of that matters. Those questions won't need to be answered for months. For now, Williams' injury has shocked the entire NBA world. There's really no way to spin this into a positive or glass-half-full moment. Instead, it's OK to sulk for a little and feel scared of the uncertain future this injury brings. Only time will tell the full ramifications in a results-oriented industry.
Full speed ahead 😤 pic.twitter.com/jnlPYXjpkb
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 26, 2026
Alex Caruso: A
Bumping into Garland to force another steal, Caruso yelled at the OKC crowd as Gilgeous-Alexander went the other way. On a night when the Thunder badly needed some juice, the 32-year-old provided it. Before Williams' devastating injury, he was one of the headliners in this one.
Caruso finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists. He shot 2-of-4 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had two steals and one block.
After Wallace went out, Caruso stepped up. He was OKC's lone high-end point-of-attack defender. That didn't faze him. Even if his regular-season role over the last two years has been downsized for the sake of health. He completely wrecked LA's halfcourt offense. Alongside the rest of the Thunder.
This was easily Caruso's best game of the young 2026-27 regular season. He hit timely shots, for one thing. Another, he was an energizer. He crashed the glass and helped run the second-unit offense. You seldom see this version of him in the regular season. He saves it for the NBA playoffs. But he read the room and knew that the veteran had to change up the sleepy energy.
Afterward, Caruso was one of the couple of Thunder players who braved the OKC media. He talked about Williams' injury. More so from the angle of a teammate-to-teammate connection. The brutal — and arguably, equally beautiful — part of the NBA is that your next game isn't too far away.
Ajay Mitchell: A
Going to the cup, Mitchell finished in a blue-collar style. The driving layups are finally on his side. He had a little bit of a slow start, but the 24-year-old has rediscovered his feel around the rim. Timely too, as everybody sans Gilgeous-Alexander struggled through an off-night before Williams' injury happened.
Mitchell finished with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, six rebounds and four assists. He shot 1-of-2 from 2 and went 1-of-1 on free throws. He also had three steals.
This was a return to Mitchell's peak. He sliced through LA's defense to constantly get to the paint. Once he spun a few layups through the hoop, he tried more of his tricks. That included his floater gracefully falling through. He helped close this out with nine points in the fourth quarter.
On defense, Mitchell has climbed the ranks in OKC. He's one of their best perimeter defenders now. When Wallace left, he took on a lot of LA's top perimeter scorers. His combination of size and savviness has helped him quickly grow on that side of the ball.
The Thunder had an absolute doomsday scenario on the health front. Obviously, Williams goes beyond just the game. But Wallace and Williams were also hurt. If all three miss time, Mitchell will be relied upon even more. Nights like these are going to be needed, rather than treated like a bonus.
Highlights:
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Jalen Williams' injury shadows Thunder's 108-101 win over Clippers
