{"id":1951884,"date":"2026-05-23T23:30:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T20:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1951884"},"modified":"2026-05-23T23:30:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T20:30:22","slug":"thunder-guard-ajay-mitchell-ruled-out-for-game-4-against-spurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1951884","title":{"rendered":"Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell ruled out for Game 4 against Spurs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell has been ruled out for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. Mitchell\u2019s name was listed on the injury report along with teammates Jalen Williams (questionable, left hamstring soreness) and Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgery recovery).<\/p>\n

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Mitchell strained his right soleus in the second quarter of Game 3, leaving with 3:56 left in the first half. The Thunder took a 2-1 series lead with a 123-108 win on Friday night. Mitchell played 16:53, scoring two points on 1-of-5 shooting, missing his only 3-point attempt, grabbing five rebounds, dishing one assist and turning it over three times.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Ajay<\/p>\n
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\n Ajay Mitchell, Thunder\u2019s breakout player, carries the dreams of his late father\n <\/div>\n
\n After losing his father in December, this season took on more meaning for Oklahoma City’s Ajay Mitchell: “I don’t want to let him down.”\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Mitchell\u2019s absence will create a void for the Thunder, who have relied on the guard\u2019s ability to score in isolation and create for others. In 57 regular-season games for the defending champions, Mitchell more than doubled his scoring average to 13.6 points while also averaging 3.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game. The Thunder had a 6-1 record in games he scored at least 20 points. The Thunder are 10-1 this postseason, including a 4-0 mark in games in which Mitchell scores 20-plus points.<\/p>\n

Entering the weekend, for the playoffs, Mitchell ranked ninth among players in total points off drives, shooting 47.2 percent on such attempts, according to NBA.com. With Williams in and out the lineup, Mitchell has stepped up as a viable No. 2 option to reigning two-time NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is the only Thunder player SGA trails in total touches this postseason. <\/p>\n

When the Thunder trust Mitchell, they\u2019ve readily benefited. Per NBA.com, he is shooting 53.5 percent when operating as the pick-and-roll ballhandler, sporting a better mark than DeA\u2019aron Fox (49.3), Donovan Mitchell (45.3), Jalen Brunson (45.1) and Cade Cunningham (40.5).<\/p>\n

This story will be updated.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell has been ruled out for Game 4 of the Western Conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. Mitchell\u2019s name was listed on the injury report along with teammates Jalen Williams (questionable, left hamstring soreness) and Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgery recovery). Advertisement Mitchell strained his right soleus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1951884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1951884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1951884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1951884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1951884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1951884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1951884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}