Friday night, the Raptors inadvertently gave OKC Thunder star Jalen Williams one of the greatest gifts of all for someone in his current position -- time.
The forward has been ravaged by injuries throughout the 2025-26 campaign, with his latest flare-up coming in the form of a left hamstring strain sustained in Game 2 of Oklahoma City's first-round series against Phoenix.
As is historically the case, the best approach to recovery when it comes to such an ailment is ample rest and rehabilitation. Fortunately for Williams and the Thunder, they've officially been granted extended time to focus on just that after Toronto's recent last-second win over Cleveland.
The high-bounce buzzer-beater RJ Barrett cashed in for the Raptors pushed their quarterfinals series against the Cavs to a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday. With this, Oklahoma City's round two tip-off against the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers has been moved from its original date of May 3 to, now, May 4, a full day later.
By the time Game 1 rolls around, Williams will have had nearly two full weeks of recovery under his belt, which, considering his injury has been treated with a week-to-week, wait-and-see approach, only bodes well for his ability to return in this upcoming best-of-seven matchup.
Luka Doncic far less likely to return in round two than Thunder star
Though the push-back to this semifinals tip-off may serve as a major boon for J-Dub, the same most likely can't be said for Lakers star, Luka Doncic.
At least, that's what ESPN's NBA insider Brian Windhorst is reporting, as he revealed during an appearance on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt that the point guard is "not close" to returning to in-game action, and even went as far as to suggest that it's more likely than not that he will miss the entirety of the series with his own health issues.
Doncic last played back on April 2, conveniently against the Thunder, where he sustained a Grade 2 hamstring strain, and Los Angeles was blown out 139-96. Now, over a month later, he still hasn't even advanced to one-on-one on full-court work.
This aforementioned end-game outcome, of course, proved to be the norm throughout their regular season series, with Oklahoma City pulling out a clean 4-0 sweep while sporting a ridiculous average point-differential of plus-29.3.
Needless to say, without their superstar cornerstone in the fold, the expectation is that a similar series turnout should be on the horizon for both clubs in round two of the postseason.
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