With almost a week of rest under their belts, the Oklahoma City Thunder will kick off their series with the Los Angeles Lakers today.
There's more than enough reason to be optimistic about the Thunder's chances of advancing to the Western Conference Finals in relatively clean fashion. They absolutely manhandled the Phoenix Suns in the first round, and their defense (especially their turnover machine) is firing on all cylinders. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been as consistent and efficient as ever offensively, and they've had enough contributors step up to keep their overall offensive attack afloat.
If there's any cause for concern in the long-term, though, it's the absence of Jalen Williams due to a hamstring strain he suffered in the first round. Williams missed most of the regular season, first rehabbing a wrist injury he suffered in last year's playoffs and later dealing with recurring hamstring issues. If Oklahoma City wants to have its best shot at a repeat, Williams needs to be fully healthy.
At this point, that's wishful thinking. But it gives the Thunder a clear objective against Los Angeles.
As enticing as the idea of Williams' return taking place in this series might be, Oklahoma City must do its best to wrap the series up as quickly as possible, giving the team and Williams time to rest before what's shaping up to be a brutal Western Conference Finals matchup.
Thunder's best-case scenario against the Lakers doesn't involve Jalen Williams
The NBA Playoffs are a marathon, not a sprint. Teams who go on deep runs, especially for multiple years in a row, must learn to properly pace themselves in order to avoid injury and exhaustion when the true tests come in the later rounds.
It's not as though the Lakers won't be a difficult opponent. They're shooting well from beyond the arc, and LeBron James is playing some of the best basketball we've seen from him in years. But it's likely that the true tests of the Thunder's championship mettle will take place in the next round, where they'd be slated to face off against either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the San Antonio Spurs.
Although Williams missed large swathes of the regular season, there was an upside to that reality. Williams was coming into the postseason with fresh legs and theoretically should have been ready to be a serious contributor on a deep playoff run. Now, the goal must be for him to enter the Western Conference Finals with ample rest.
We've seen what rushing a player back from a hamstring injury can do. Williams has already been ruled out for Game 1, and it seems likely that his status won't change until at least next week.
On the one hand, it's an appealing idea to get Williams back into the system and acclimated to playoff basketball before things get serious, whether that happens in this series or in the next.
But if this series is already in the bag by the time the Thunder even consider bringing him back, that would be the ideal scenario. Oklahoma City shouldn't need Williams to handle Los Angeles, and wrapping up the series in four or five games will give them the opportunity to extend his rest with a clean conscience.
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