Alex Caruso and the Oklahoma City Thunder went into Game 3 of their opening-round series in Phoenix with a 2-0 lead, but without two rotation pieces they had leaned on all season. Jalen Williams was out after suffering a Grade 1 left hamstring strain in the second half of Game 2, and Isaiah Joe missed the matchup for personal reasons.
Oklahoma City was playing its first road game of the 2026 postseason after winning the first two games at home, and coach Mark Daigneault said Joe was not currently with the team. The Thunder responded by starting Ajay Mitchell, a move shaped by his scoring punch and his ability to handle the ball or finish possessions away from it.
The absence of Williams mattered because he had been part of Oklahoma City’s staple first five and had played only 33 games during the team’s 64-win regular season campaign. The Thunder had reached this point after sweeping their opening-round matchup in the 2025 playoffs, and they were trying to make it three straight first-round series sweeps while also chasing back-to-back championships for the first time in franchise history and the first time in the NBA in the 2020s.
That left Saturday’s Game 3 as more than a routine trip away from home. Oklahoma City was protecting a lead, but it was also testing the depth that could decide whether this postseason looks like the last two or becomes something harder to sustain.
