Photo: Peter Baba

The Oklahoma City Thunder chose not to point to injuries as the reason for their Western Conference Finals defeat, despite dealing with significant health issues throughout the series.

As Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported, Oklahoma City was without key contributors Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell for much of the matchup.

Williams was limited by a hamstring injury, while Mitchell was sidelined with a calf strain.

Veteran guard Alex Caruso acknowledged that injuries are a reality every team must navigate during the playoffs.

He noted that the Thunder benefited from better health during last year’s postseason run, but experienced the opposite this season.

Even with those setbacks, there was a strong belief inside the locker room that the team still had enough talent to advance.

“To be a 64-win team, have the net rating we did, overcome some of the adversities we did in the season, is something we’re incredibly proud of,” head coach Mark Daigneault said.

The Thunder coach emphasized that the season provided valuable lessons for a young group that remains largely intact and believes its championship window is still wide open.

“It’s something we can build on. When you have a team that’s together for a long time, you have to grow from every experience, including the tough ones. And it’s the NBA – there are tough ones.”

At the same time, Daigneault admitted the loss remains difficult to accept because of the confidence the Thunder had in their ability to win the series.

“And we can also be really disappointed. We felt like we could have won the series, obviously, right there in the game and in the series. There’s nobody that we don’t think we can beat, respectfully.”

Thunder Notes: SGA, J-Dub, Mitchell, Wallace, More https://t.co/iHltFivgh5