Ajay Mitchell will miss his third consecutive game Thursday night when the Oklahoma City Thunder meet the San Antonio Spurs in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. He was ruled out Wednesday with a right soleus strain, leaving Oklahoma City without a rotation guard for a road game with the series hanging at 3-2.
That is why the update lands now: Game 6 arrives a day after San Antonio lost 127-114 on the road and fell behind in the best-of-seven series, turning Thursday night into a must-handle test for the Spurs before the matchup shifts again. Mitchell had already missed the previous two games, and the Thunder now head into this one knowing a familiar piece will not be available.
Jalen Williams is still the bigger uncertainty. He remains questionable with a left hamstring strain and an injury-management designation after sitting out the past three games, so Oklahoma City may be forced to navigate another postseason game without one of its key pieces. San Antonio, by contrast, enters with a clean injury report, a small edge on paper that matters more in late May than it does in January.
The absence of Mitchell does not decide the series, but it trims Oklahoma City’s guard depth in a game that can move the entire Western Conference finals. If Williams is cleared, the Thunder regain some of the balance they have been missing. If he is not, Thursday night becomes less about who is fresh and more about which team can survive the last unavailable player, a question that will shape not just Game 6 but the path to Game 7 as well.
