{"id":68592,"date":"2026-05-18T20:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/spurs-fox-sidelined-for-western-conference-finals-opener-due-to-ankle-injury\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T20:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:38:10","slug":"spurs-fox-sidelined-for-western-conference-finals-opener-due-to-ankle-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/spurs-fox-sidelined-for-western-conference-finals-opener-due-to-ankle-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Spurs’ Fox Sidelined for Western Conference Finals Opener Due to Ankle Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) \u2014 The San Antonio Spurs will begin their Western Conference finals campaign without their starting guard De’Aaron Fox, who has been sidelined for Monday evening’s series opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to right ankle soreness. The setback creates an early challenge for the Spurs in what was expected to be a highly competitive matchup.<\/p>

In contrast, Oklahoma City received positive news as Jalen Williams returned to action following a six-game absence caused by a left hamstring strain.<\/p>

Fox participated in San Antonio’s morning practice session on Monday, with the player stating he was “trying to test it out.” He also took the court in Oklahoma City approximately 90 minutes before the scheduled tip-off for Game 1. However, that second session apparently did not produce the desired results, leading to the decision to keep him out of action.<\/p>

Throughout these playoffs leading up to Monday, Fox had been contributing 18.8 points and 5.8 assists while playing a team-high 33.3 minutes per contest for San Antonio. The organization has not provided detailed information about the ankle problem, describing it only as soreness.<\/p>

“It’s one of those deals where it’s not going away for as long as we’re playing, I don’t believe,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said.<\/p>

Fox was absent for San Antonio’s initial eight contests this season and had only missed three additional games since that time. The Spurs brought a 7-3 record into Monday when playing without Fox this season.<\/p>

Williams had been unavailable for 55 of Oklahoma City’s first 90 games this season prior to Monday, including playoff contests. Among those missed games, 19 were due to a right wrist problem and 36 were connected to hamstring issues \u2014 with the right hamstring keeping him out for 30 regular season games and the left hamstring causing his most recent six-game absence during this playoff stretch.<\/p>

Ajay Mitchell stepped up effectively during Williams’ six-game playoff absence, moving into the starting lineup and posting 21.2 points per game \u2014 the team’s second-highest average during that period, trailing only two-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander \u2014 while shooting 48% from the field.<\/p>

Oklahoma City entered Monday with a 27-8 record when Williams was available this season, compared to 45-10 when he was not in the lineup.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Antonio will be without starting guard De’Aaron Fox for Monday’s Western Conference finals Game 1 against Oklahoma City due to right ankle soreness. Meanwhile, the Thunder welcome back Jalen Williams after he sat out six games with a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":68591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[836],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779151090247.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbtNqq-hQk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69732,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/spurs-star-deaaron-fox-sidelined-again-with-ankle-injury-in-west-finals\/","url_meta":{"origin":68592,"position":0},"title":"Spurs Star De’Aaron Fox Sidelined Again with Ankle Injury in West Finals","author":"Admin","date":"May 20, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"San Antonio All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox will miss his second straight game in the Western Conference finals due to a persistent right ankle problem. Rookie Dylan Harper, who had a standout performance in Game 1, will continue starting in Fox's place against Oklahoma City.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779323853412.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779323853412.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779323853412.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779323853412.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":68598,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/san-antonios-fox-sidelined-for-game-1-against-thunder-due-to-ankle-injury\/","url_meta":{"origin":68592,"position":1},"title":"San Antonio’s Fox Sidelined for Game 1 Against Thunder Due to Ankle Injury","author":"Admin","date":"May 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"San Antonio Spurs point guard De'Aaron Fox will miss the opening game of the Western Conference finals Monday night because of a sprained right ankle. The injury occurred during the previous playoff series against Minnesota, though Fox managed to play through it in the final two games of that matchup.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1779153783359.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":70174,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/thunder-spurs-battle-injuries-as-western-conference-finals-heads-to-san-antonio\/","url_meta":{"origin":68592,"position":2},"title":"Thunder, Spurs Battle Injuries as Western Conference Finals Heads to San Antonio","author":"Admin","date":"May 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Western Conference Finals between Oklahoma City and San Antonio is tied 1-1 as the series moves to San Antonio for Game 3. 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The series now heads to a winner-take-all Game 7 on Saturday, with the victor earning a trip to face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/category\/sports\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/news-1780028612024.jpg?fit=450%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":67986,"url":"https:\/\/tvdelmarva.com\/wp\/thunder-vs-spurs-historic-western-conference-finals-matchup-set-to-begin\/","url_meta":{"origin":68592,"position":5},"title":"Thunder vs Spurs: Historic Western Conference Finals Matchup Set to Begin","author":"Admin","date":"May 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are set to face off in a rare Western Conference finals matchup featuring two teams with 62+ wins. 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