{"id":554078,"date":"2026-01-22T22:16:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/554078\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T22:16:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T22:16:24","slug":"thunderstruck-can-okc-keep-winning-even-with-injuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/554078\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunderstruck: Can OKC Keep Winning Even With Injuries?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After starting their four-game road trip quite healthy, OKC\u2019s injuries have now piled up, and it may affect their games in the coming weeks. It hasn\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n

With the way things are working out for the Thunder, it seems that they can still thrive. They did \u201csurvive\u201d 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

J-Dub is Out, Again<\/p>\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\u2019s recent hamstring issues<\/a> saw him miss games again. That\u2019s one more to add to the growing list of OKC injuries that have ravaged them this year. However, it\u2019s worth noting that Williams has caused quite a need for bigger adjustments in the rotation this season. In all of the team\u2019s eight losses, Williams has played in seven of those<\/a>. Sure, he\u2019s 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\u2019s a good note, but he\u2019s 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\u2019s 6MOTY Campaign Takes a Hit<\/p>\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\u2019re not impressed, his numbers have jumped way high than any other Thunder player<\/a>. Even now, he\u2019s averaging 26.3 minutes per game and has even started nine games. He\u2019s 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\u2019s short return<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

\u2014 Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) January 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

In Oklahoma City\u2019s blowout win against the Milwaukee Bucks, Mitchell dropped 18 points and eight rebounds on 8-13 shooting. He was even outscoring the whole Bucks squad by himself at one point. But just when the Thunder were sitting comfortably at the head of a 20-point lead, he left the third quarter and did not return.<\/p>\n

Nearing the end of the game, the team confirmed that Ajay Mitchell has now been added to the growing list of the Thunder\u2019s injuries this season. According to the medical staff, Mitchell suffered a right hip contusion. While there\u2019s no report on whether this is a serious injury or not, Oklahoma City is now down several key players after their road trip.<\/p>\n

How Will OKC Injuries Affect Their Games?<\/p>\n

Aside from J-Dub and Mitchell, Alex Caruso<\/a>, Isaiah Hartenstein<\/a>, and Jaylin Williams<\/a> are all out with their respective injuries. These are regular players on the rotation \u2014 not redshirt rookies<\/a> like Thomas Sorber<\/a> or Nikola Topic<\/a>. We\u2019ve seen how the Thunder really struggle with missing players, and it\u2019s not fun at all.<\/p>\n

Remember the last time the Thunder had six players on the injury report? Yeah, that was the first loss of the season<\/a>, which was still a very tight one. OKC\u2019s injuries play a significant role in their chances of winning, and it seems that SGA and Chet will have to lead the way<\/a> for them to win.<\/p>\n

Note that Oklahoma City has the second-most games missed by players due to injury \u2014 just next to the Los Angeles Clippers. For what it\u2019s worth, the Thunder is still the best team in the league, so there\u2019s a small comfort for fans moving forward<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Michael McLoone-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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