Thunder to be shorthanded again for Game 7 against Spurs in West finals

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell will not play for the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night because of injuries that have dogged both throughout the series.

Williams has been dealing with a strained left hamstring for much of the playoffs. Mitchell has a strained right soleus.

Williams missed 49 of Oklahoma City's 82 regular-season games with wrist and hamstring issues, and Saturday will be the 10th playoff game he's missed this year with new hamstring problems. He played in five, including about 10 minutes in Thursday's Game 6 loss to the Spurs.

Mitchell had been the starter that replaces Williams in the lineup, until he too got hurt. Oklahoma City has been starting Jared McCain in that spot since, alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort and Chet Holmgren. They went to Cason Wallace as the starter for Game 7, with McCain off the bench.

The Spurs reported no injuries going into Game 7.

Marc Davis, John Goble and Josh Tiven were selected by the NBA as the referees for Game 7 of Spurs-Thunder. It's the second Game 7 in these playoffs for Davis and Tiven; Davis worked the final game of the Cleveland-Detroit series in Round 2, and Tiven had Game 7 of Orlando-Detroit in Round 1.

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