What happened to Jalen Williams? Latest injury update on Thunder forward after mid-game exit vs Pelicans (April 27)

OKC Thunder standout Jalen Williams exited Saturday's Game 3 showdown with the New Orleans Pelicans after being hit in the face. Early on, just one minute into the first quarter, the young standout drove to the hoop, and was hit in the face by Brandon Ingram. To the surprise of fans, no foul was called on the play. Despite that, the contact to Williams forced him to head back to the locker room.

Since then, at the time of publication, Jalen Williams has remained in the locker room, and has yet to reemerge and return to the bench. In addition, so far, there's been no word as to whether or not he will be returning to the game.

Should he wind up being out the remainder of the game, the OKC Thunder would certainly be hampered without their starter's production. With the OKC Thunder looking to extend their 2-0 series lead, Williams' status could be a major factor in whether the top seed can close out the series.

Second-quarter update on Jalen Williams after early injury in OKC Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans game

After being hit in the face in the first minute of the OKC Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans game and heading back to the locker room, Jalen Williams re-emerged. Much to the delight of OKC Thunder fans, he did so without a face-mask on.

Given that, it appears as though Williams managed to avoid serious injury. After rejoining his team on the bench, Williams checked back into the game. After checking back in, Williams became an immediate difference-maker for the Thunder, helping give the team a secondquarter lead.

While we have seen instances recently where injured players return to a game before then being sidelined for future games such as with Jimmy Butler’s MCL, that doesn’t appear to be the case here. If the OKC Thunder medical staff was worried about a serious injury, Williams likely would have returned wearing a face mask to protect him.

Looking at Jalen Williams’ stats in OKC vs NOLA series

Much like he was in the regular season, Jalen Williams has proven to be a difference-maker for the OKC Thunder in their first-round playoff series. In the previous two games of the series, Williams has averaged a whopping 37.7 minutes per game. During that time he’s averaged 20.0 points per game on 51.4% from the field.

In addition, he’s averaging 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, with a +/- of +19.0.

These numbers are an improvement on Williams’ regular season numbers, which saw him average 19.1ppg, 4.0rpg, and 1.1spg. With the OKC Thunder looking to win their first playoff series since the 2015-16 season, Williams’ increased production has earned him praise from fans and analysts alike.