{"id":173898,"date":"2026-01-22T12:26:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=173898"},"modified":"2026-01-22T12:26:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:26:39","slug":"can-okc-thunder-keep-winning-even-with-injuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/01\/22\/can-okc-thunder-keep-winning-even-with-injuries\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunderstruck: Can OKC Keep Winning Even With Injuries?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After starting their four-game road trip quite healthy, OKC’s injuries have now piled up, and it may affect their games in the coming weeks. It hasn’t been an easy year for the Thunder, who have started the year without Jalen Williams<\/a> and missed some rotational players. With another tough stretch of games coming up, will this spell doom for the defending champs?<\/p>\n

Heading halfway into the season, Oklahoma City is pacing to be the first team to reach 40 wins. This is ideal for a team that has over five players sitting out<\/a> with injuries. The season is closing in on the All-Star Break, but the Thunder are begging to fast-forward to that date.<\/p>\n

Thunderstruck: Can OKC Keep Winning Even With Injuries?<\/h2>\n

With the way things are working out for the Thunder, it seems that they can still thrive. They did “survive” the 2024-25 season with a lot of injuries to key players and still won the NBA Finals. But with a few teams somehow figuring out OKC as of late, will there be an issue moving forward?<\/p>\n

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J-Dub is Out, Again<\/h3>\n

Jalen Williams missed a huge chunk of games to begin the 2025-26 campaign. Healing from his wrist surgery, there are a lot of fans who thought the injury might still be lingering as well. That was quite settled when he had a good stretch of games, especially without both Chet Holmgren<\/a> and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, J-Dub’s recent hamstring issues<\/a> saw him miss games again. That’s one more to add to the growing list of OKC injuries that have ravaged them this year. However, it’s worth noting that Williams has caused quite a need for bigger adjustments in the rotation this season. In all of the team’s eight losses, Williams has played in seven of those<\/a>. Sure, he’s not directly to blame, but his presence sure does change the dynamic for OKC.<\/p>\n

After six impressive games in a row, it appears that Williams has struggled to score the ball. In his game against Houston, J-Dub only had six points on 2-11 shooting in 31 minutes. He did, however, back up that game with 10 assists, which was huge for OKC. It’s a good note, but he’s got to recover now and improve his scoring alongside his stars.<\/p>\n

Before being out indefinitely, Williams was averaging 16.8 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.8 rebounds on 47% shooting, which is below his usual standards. That says a lot about his struggles so far.<\/p>\n

Mitchell’s 6MOTY Campaign Takes a Hit<\/h3>\n

Ajay Mitchell<\/a> is one of the biggest revelations for the Thunder<\/a> this season. After barely playing games last year, the Santa Barbara product has been impressive as of late. This season, Mitchell is posting Sixth Man of the Year numbers<\/a> with 14.1 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.5 rebounds on 48.7% shooting from the field. Those numbers had a lot buzz in the 6MOTY race, and Mitchell has proven to be a reliable player off the bench for OKC.<\/p>\n

If you’re not impressed, his numbers have jumped way high than any other Thunder player<\/a>. Even now, he’s averaging 26.3 minutes per game and has even started nine games. He’s been good at slashing to the basket, reading mismatches, and providing yet another two-way punch for OKC. Many even doubted if he would suffer production with J-Dub’s short return<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Ajay Mitchell (right hip contusion) will not return.<\/p>\n

Bummer. Mitchell was having a fantastic game.<\/p>\n

Here's hoping it's nothing too serious. OKC is down a lot of good players right now.<\/p>\n

— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) January 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n