Tyrese Haliburton didn’t wait long to reach out after Jalen Williams went down Sunday night.
The Indiana Pacers guard, who has lived through the kind of injury nightmare that changes a season in an instant, posted a brief message on X after the Oklahoma City Thunder forward was stretchered off the floor.
“JDub 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼,” Haliburton wrote.
Williams’ injury came with a little more than a minute left in Oklahoma City’s 108-101 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Paycom Center. He attacked the basket, got caught in the air by Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr., and then landed awkwardly with his left leg pinned underneath him.
The scene turned tense immediately. Thunder trainers put a towel over Williams’ lower leg while teammates stood nearby in silence.
He eventually left on a stretcher and gave the home crowd a thumbs up as he was taken to the locker room. Dunn was called for a Flagrant 1 foul on the play.
Oklahoma City has not announced a diagnosis. After the game, head coach Mark Daigneault stopped short of offering details.
“We’re not doing great. That’s tough on the guys,” Daigneault said, per CBS Sports.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also struggled to hold it together when discussing his teammate.
“I just feel bad for him. Nothing more than that,” he said.
Haliburton’s reaction hits harder because he knows this road. The Pacers star tore his right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Thunder and missed the entire 2025-26 season while recovering. In that series, Williams averaged 23.6 points and dropped 40 in Game 5.
Williams, a 2025 All-Star and All-NBA Third Team selection, has had his own run of setbacks, too. He underwent wrist surgery after the 2025 title run and then dealt with hamstring injuries throughout last season, including in the playoffs.
Now the Thunder, and the rest of the league, are waiting for word on Williams’ status. Based on the way the injury unfolded, Oklahoma City may be bracing for a long stretch without one of its most important players.
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Pacers Face A Familiar Problem In Brooklyn Tonight
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Indiana also knows this is not a comfortable spot on the schedule, especially with Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle in the mix after both have given the Pacers problems before. For Indiana, the bigger concern may be starting faster and getting more from the bench, two areas that can decide whether this turns into a clean bounce-back or another night of chasing the game. [Read more 🡒]