Heading into their final back-to-back of the regular season, the OKC Thunder are opting to sit All-Star forward Jalen Williams in Tuesday's matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers as he continues to manage a nagging hamstring strain.
In his absence, Jared McCain may finally have the get-right game necessary to snap out of his ongoing slump.
Upon his arrival to the Thunder ahead of the February 5 trade deadline, the sophomore guard found himself quickly assimilating to the defending champ's on-court scheme, especially while J-Dub was sidelined with his lower-body ailment, where he was dropping tremendous averages of 13.1 points on 46.5 percent shooting from the floor and 43.5 percent shooting from deep.
Since Williams' return on March 23, however, McCain's on-court production has taken a severe nose-dive, as he's been posting mere averages of just 5.3 points on 41.0 percent shooting from the field and an abysmal 19.0 percent shooting from deep.
It's no coincidence that his minutes have taken a serious hit as well, going from 19.8 without Williams to just 14.7 since his reintroduction.
Considering this is McCain's first lick of meaningful, late-game action in the pros, and he's soon slated to take part in his first postseason run, snapping out of his current rut and getting back into a groove during these final four games should be a must for both him and the Thunder.
A Jalen Williams-less outing against the Lakers could prove to be the perfect way for him to gain much-needed momentum.
Thunder must remain cautious with Jalen Williams during final games
Considering how things played out during their last bout against the Lakers, with Luka Doncic enduring a gut-punch hamstring injury himself, it should come as no surprise that the Thunder are taking things easy with their already hobbled star in their rematch.
Frankly, with only four games remaining on the regular season schedule, they should stay cautious with their use of Williams leading up to the playoffs.
As J-Dub said while commenting on Doncic's "spooky" ailment, "that injury sucks," specifically suggesting how easy it is for flare-ups to come about and prevent one from getting back into a groove on the hardwood.
Already this season, Williams has been sidelined for multi-week absences on two separate occasions as a result of his hamstring strain.
With the ultimate goal for the Thunder being a repeat championship run, staving off any more residual hamstring ailments should be one of coach Mark Daigneault's top priorities ahead of the playoffs.