OKC Thunder Must Eventually Acclimate to Injury-Plagued Lineup

Oklahoma City's turn into the year hasn't been too kind.

Losing Jalen Williams to a new injury, this time a hamstring strain, continuing to deal with the absence of Isaiah Hartenstein paired with injuries to Ajay Mitchell, Alex Caruso and many others being sidelined at various times throughout the month—it's been slim pickings for a team that's been dubbed one of the most deep teams in the NBA.

It's been tough sledding, and the record has illustrated that thus far in the calendar year. Eight wins and five losses in January up to this point and dropping two consecutive games at home, the Thunder isn't looking like the Thunder, and you can easily point to Williams and Hartenstein sitting on the bench as a prime reason of that.

Injuries are inevitable in this game. You play the cards you are dealt. So far, Oklahoma City's been dealt a bad hand throughout the entire season, not just in the past month. Even amidst that, this team still maintains the best record in the NBA to this point in the season.

But you can't wonder but think, how might the injury bug affect this team if it plagues them all the way into April and deep into the postseason?

When you take a look at last year's title run in the playoffs by the Thunder, you had vital players against their opponents be dealing with tough injuries like the Denver Nuggets' Aaron Gordon. Of course, you had the unfortunate injury of Tyrese Haliburton, who tore his achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, which made Oklahoma City's case easier to close out that game and claim its first-ever NBA title.

These injuries do happen, obviously, and they aren't just tied to the regular season. Fans like to think they'll have a fully healthy roster heading into April, but a lot times, that is not the case.

And in the Thunder's situation, with the length and consistency of injuries throughout this roster this season, discovering how to win games with a severly compromised roster is paramount to this team's ultimate success in the postseason.

The Thunder's roster is likely as deep as any across the league—so if any team was able to go all the way potentially without one or even two of its top-five guys, it would be this one. But head coach Mark Daigneault and co. must be prepared in the event this injury bug continues to follow, and that starts in the regular season.

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