The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Jalen Williams return from a 16 game lay off following his second hamstring strain of the season. It has been an injury riddled 2025-26 campaign for Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The All-NBA swingman has only logged 28 games on the season following the Thunder 119-109 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.

The Thunder only saw Williams muster seven points on nine shots in this game, his touch clearly off the mark while hauling in three rebounds and three assists in his 24 minutes in his second game back into the fold.

Following this contest, Mark Daigneault was asked about the lack of minutes for the All-Defensive wing following his run of injuries and his overall game.

“I thought he obviously didn’t shoot it great, but he continues to have pop and be in good shape. He’s guarding their top guys in his minutes, and I thought he did a pretty good job there. It’s not going to be linear, but we’re happy to have him back. We can get him in some of these games and get him back acclimated. He’s played high-level games for a young player, so I’m really not worried about the performance as much as I am just getting him out there, getting his feet wet again and getting him ready to go as we ramp up towards the playoffs,” Daigneault explained.

Daigneault is right, Williams created a lot of really good looks tonight for himself and others and physically looked the part despite shots not dropping. He also didn’t have a ton of time to work his way into a groove.

In this game, Williams only logged 24 minutes in this contest. Even this season, the Santa Clara product is averaging 28 minutes a night and in his first three seasons in the NBA he logged 30 or more minutes per game. On Monday, the All-NBA swingman played in just 21 minutes. The Thunder bench boss was asked if the team’s No. 2 scoring option is playing on a minute restriction.

“We’re soft on that. We’re not like a hard-cap team. But we’re definitely not looking at 30-minute nights yet,” Daigneault said.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have nine games left in the NBA regular season. Oklahoma City is going to try to ramp up the Santa Clara product ahead of the NBA Playoffs, which will see plenty of pressure placed on the Bricktown Ballers. The Thunder are hoping to be the first team since 2018 to repeat as champions.

Up next, the Oklahoma City Thunder open up their final home stand of the year with the Chicago Bulls in town on Friday. A stay that spans five games across 12 days.

Asked Mark Daigneault about Jalen Williams’ ramp-up process for the playoffs:

“I thought he obviously didn’t shoot it great, but he continues to have pop and be in good shape. He’s guarding their top guys in his minutes, and I thought he did a pretty good job there. It’s not… pic.twitter.com/P9zpm2ZJxw

— Justin Martinez (@Justintohoops) March 26, 2026