Wednesday night, Knicks forward OG Anunoby sustained a right hamstring strain in their Game 2 semifinal win over the Philadelphia 76ers, and his status moving forward is somewhat up in the air. Unfortunately, the OKC Thunder understand this kind of injury more than anyone here in 2025-26, and are a prime example of why New York should proceed with caution.
Throughout the regular season, All-Star Jalen Williams has been hobbled by injuries, most notably a left hamstring strain that directly resulted in him missing a whopping 30 games as a result of two different flare-ups.
Sadly, his reaggravation of the injury came only two games after making his initial return to action following nearly a month-long sabbatical.
Now, amid their repeat-pushing postseason run, the Thunder stud has sustained another hamstring strain, though this time impacting his left leg.
Thanks to their total domination through these first two rounds, as they're currently on a 5-0 stretch to start the playoffs, coach Mark Daigneault and OKC's medical staff have had the luxury of taking it slow with his reintroduction to the rotation, as he's now been sidelined for all but two games.
With the Knicks now up 2-0 in their round-two series against Philly, after enduring a similar situation to OKC with one of their most valuable players in Anunoby, they should strongly consider following a similar, highly cautious course of action as well.
Thunder deemed capable of besting Lakers without J-Dub and SGA
As noted, the Thunder are currently undefeated in this year's postseason, becoming just the fifth defending champion over the last three decades to start out with five-straight wins.
With their rather commanding 108-90 win over the Lakers on Tuesday, Oklahoma City is far and away favored to come away from this series victorious, and, after what he saw during the contest, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith believes they likely don't even need Williams or Gilgeous-Alexander to do so.
During a recent edition of First Take, the polarizing sports personality said, "The way the Lakers looked against them in Game 1, you could damn near sit SGA out with J-Dub, and they'd still find a way to beat the Lakers."
Even while holding Gilgeous-Alexander to under 20 points for the first time in nearly a full year, Los Angeles was still incapable of keeping their series opener close down the stretch, as guys like Chet Holmgren dominated on both ends of the floor (24 points and three blocks), while others such as Isaiah Joe and Jared McCain made up the difference for the reigning MVP's struggles on the offensive front (combined for 21 points on8-of-13 shooting from the floor).
Based off the fact that they still were able to pull away with an 18-point edge with SGA having one of his worst games of the entire season, it's hard to argue with Stephen A.'s take.
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