Thunder star Jalen Williams made his official return to the lineup on Monday night, taking on the Philadelphia 76ers alongside his teammates from OKC’s championship lineup.
Williams had previously played just 26 games on the season, dealing with various injuries. He missed the team’s first 19 games while working his way back from a wrist injury suffered in last year’s postseason run, and then dealt with back-to-back stints with separate hamstring strains.
After waiting another week past his re-evaluation window, Williams was finally able to re-take the court against the Sixers.
He melded back into the starting lineup seamlessly, wheeling and dealing from he word go. All in all, he would finish with 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting, adding six assists and four rebounds. It wasnt a perfect game, as he had three turnovers, no steals and blocks and shot just 1-for-3 from three, but he looked much more his old self, moving around with explosion.
It was certainly a step in the right direction for Williams, who has just a handful of games to ramp up ahead of the impending postseason. Monday's win would be OKC’s league-high twelfth in a row,
Here’s how X, formerly known as Twitter, reacted to Williams return for Oklahoma City:
J-DUB IS BACK FOR THE STREAKING THUNDER!
Jalen Williams is set to return from a 16-game absence when the NBA-leading Thunder visit the 76ers tonight at 7pm/et on NBA League Pass. Williams, Oklahoma City’s second-leading scorer (17.5 PPG), was an NBA All-Star and Kia All-NBA… pic.twitter.com/57bI4dUbnr
— NBA (@NBA) March 23, 2026
A true pre-game warmup for Dub🏀 Welcome Back to the Thunder Party 🎉 pic.twitter.com/wPsKyi31ad
— Steve McGehee (@SteveMcGehee) March 23, 2026
Welcome back JDub 🙌pic.twitter.com/obFhNlJOH7
— Thunder Nation (@ThunderNationCP) March 23, 2026
DUB FROM 3!!!! 👌
— Tayler Peterson (@Tayler_P15) March 23, 2026
Jalen Williams has three assists in six minutes played,
Dealing so far.
— Derek Parker (@DParkOK) March 23, 2026
JDub scores his first bucket after missing 16 games 💪
(via @NBA)
pic.twitter.com/3HfTGKznUp
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 23, 2026
Jalen Williams flew to the rim, adjusted in mid-air and finished a contested layup. He now has seven points to go along with four assists in eight minutes.
OKC is up 45-34 with 8:20 left until halftime.
— Justin Martinez (@Justintohoops) March 23, 2026
JDubs passing has been realllly good
— Gur Singh (@HoopFocusX) March 23, 2026
This Jalen Williams guy is a pretty solid addition by Presti
— Ryan Chapman (@_RyanChapman) March 23, 2026
JDub has looked like JDub. Forgot how much I love watching him hoop.
— J.D. Silva (@jdsilva_) March 23, 2026
Dub now up to 7 points and 4 assists in 8 minutes 🤌
— Daily Thunder (@dailythunder) March 23, 2026
So good to have Dub back
— 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒆 🌩 (@Three_Cone) March 23, 2026
Jalen Williams looks great early on in his return.
JDub hit a corner 3 and has had a couple tough finishes at the rim.
7 points on 3-5 shooting and 4 assists in 9 minutes.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) March 23, 2026
hammy looking all right to me 😤 pic.twitter.com/yEw7g0iZyw
— Tyranny (@MattTyranny) March 23, 2026
Jalen Williams is on his best stretch yet. Up to 12 points. Looks quick at slicing through the defense and his jumper has been pretty automatic. Thunder have a 78-58 lead with 6:28 left in the 3Q
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) March 24, 2026
Jalen Williams has shown some good explosiveness at the rim. He just elevated and sank an acrobatic layup to give himself 16 points.
OKC has a 103-82 lead with 9:18 left in the game.
— Justin Martinez (@Justintohoops) March 24, 2026
JDub caught air on the way to the rack 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/aHAGq2QO4M
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 23, 2026
Jalen Williams with two functioning wrists is such a beast
— OKC Skittles 🍬 (@OKCskittles) March 24, 2026
This is some of the best Jalen Williams has looked all year,
Doing a little bit of everything, looking really spry with 16 points, five assists, four rebounds.
— Derek Parker (@DParkOK) March 24, 2026
so good https://t.co/PYZzR6tt17 pic.twitter.com/4CziJyl4Gb
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) March 23, 2026
I missed watching JDub play basketball
Welcome back 💯
pic.twitter.com/TQ6CEv3tRa
— Fliff (@fliff) March 23, 2026
The Thunder have now won 12 games straight, retaining their grip on the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Spurs have been hot on their heels for a few months now, though OKC has been able to keep them at bay by getting all of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Ajay Mitchell and Williams back from injury.
The Thunder currently have a 3.5-game lead, with just 11 games remaining on the regular-season schedule.
OKC next takes on Boston at 6:30 p.m. CT on March 25, capping off an extended road trip. They're undefeated on the trip so far, and will play five-straight games at home.