On the second night of a row, the Oklahoma City Thunder were not required to release their injury report until later in the afternoon when a series of announcements were made.
After missing ten straight games due to a hamstring strain, Jalen Williams returned to the court Monday against the Lakers to lead the Thunder to a clutch victory. On Wednesday, he saw his near-perfect homecoming spoiled when he left the Suns game in the third quarter with another hamstring strain after scoring 28 points in 20 minutes of action. His re-aggravation led to Williams not only being knocked out of that game, but also being sidelined during the All-Star break where the team will re-evaluate his status.
However, that wasn’t the only information revealed by the injury report, Nikola Topic, who played in two games for the NBA G League club this week during his return to play process, was no longer on the team’s injury report, reporting his long-awaited NBA debut tonight at the Paycom Center.
Topic overcame a torn ACL suffered just before the 2024 NBA Draft, which kept him out of the entire 2024-25 campaign, while also taking off treatments for testicular cancer at the turn of the new year after being diagnosed in October. His NBA debut is a heartwarming and inspiring story that all OKC Thunder watchers have been waiting for for a long time.
However, the Santa Clara product isn’t the only one sidelined in this matchup. Superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Sixth Man of the Year Ajay Mitchell and big man Isaiah Hartenstein are in street clothes for this contest. This leaves Mark Daigneault without three essential starters and one of the team’s occasional starters.
With the starting five in this game against the Milwaukee Bucks up in the air, 30 minutes before kickoff, the team announced its starting lineup. Tonight also marks the date of Ousmane Dieng’s return to the Paycom Center. The 2022 lottery pick was traded a week ago to make room for the addition of Jared McCain to this roster. After hitting a career-high five triples a night ago, Dieng should play a big role for the Bucks in this contest.
OKC Thunder vs. Milwaukee Bucks, starting lineup
OKC Thunder starting lineup
- Cason Wallace, G.
- Lu Dort, G.
- Isaiah Joe, G.
- Kenrich Williams, F.
- Chet Holmgren, C.
Milwaukee Bucks starting lineup
- Kevin Porter Jr., G.
- A.J. Green, G.
- Kyle Kuzma, F.
- Jericho Sims, C
- Ousmane Dieng, F.
The Oklahoma City Thunder need to wrap up these final 48 minutes of basketball before their bye week and enjoy their matchup against the lowly Milwaukee Bucks, who are also on the second night of a back-to-back trip, having pulled off an upset of the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
OKC will return to action on Friday, February 20 against the Brooklyn Nets to open a two-game homestand against Eastern Conference foes, while the Thunder host the Cleveland Cavailers on Sunday afternoon, February 22.
Stay tuned Thunder on SI for complete coverage of Nikola Topic’s NBA debut, this contest against the Bucks, All-Star weekend and the entire 2025-26 campaign for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
