The Oklahoma City Thunder enter the Western Conference Finals with Jaylen Williams in the lineup. The defending champions officially cleared his status for Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs, closing a question that hung over the team for nearly a month. Thunder are starting at full strength, and that is bad news for the Spurs as the series begins.

Williams felt the pain in his left hamstring back in Game 2 of the first round against the Phoenix Suns, on April 22. He hasn't played since. Thunder have played without him and still swept both the Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers in clean series with no losses. Even without their second-leading scorer, Thunder were dominant. Now with him, the whole series takes on a different look.

Williams himself said he is healthy and happy he had enough time for a full recovery. With four-game wins in two rounds, Thunder earned extra rest days - and that is a difference you feel in the hips and in the head when a 24-year-old comes back from injury. When a player that age gets time, that's gold.

Before the injury, Williams averaged 20.5 points, 5.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds across his two playoff games. Numbers that look modest on paper compared to stars averaging over 30 points, but Williams is a player who changes the game with spacing and slashing. Thunder didn't sweep their previous two series cleanly with isolation scoring - they did it with depth. With Williams that depth is now both deeper and sharper.

For the Spurs this is the worst possible scenario. They arrived in the Western Finals after a long build, and now they have to play the defending champion who hasn't even spent its energy in the first two rounds. Victor Wembanyama will be the key, but Thunder have too many tools. The series will be interesting, but the favorite is clear. The question is whether San Antonio has any room at all for a surprise.