San Antonio Spurs‘ star rookie Dylan Harper left the team’s Game 2 loss in the Western Conference Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder with a leg injury and did not return.
Harper suffered what many believe was a hamstring injury in the third quarter, and the standout first-year guard never came back in the game. The Spurs have yet to offer an official Harper injury update, but according to some new reports and what was seen during Game 2, there’s hope he won’t be out for an extended period.
Harper’s injury came on the same day he was named to the NBA’s All-Rookie First-Team, capping off what has already been a strong season to begin his career in San Antonio.
Dylan Harper Injury Update: Spurs Get Good News After Game 2 Exit
GettyOKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA – MAY 20: Dylan Harper #2 of the San Antonio Spurs looks on during the first quarter of a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Two of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center on May 20, 2026 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Harper went down on a fall in the third quarter with an apparent hamstring injury, subsequently heading to the Spurs’ locker room shortly after, as his status at that moment was unclear.
However, on NBC’s national television broadcast, Harper appeared eager to return to the game, though he was sent back to the locker room for further testing, and never came back on the floor for the Spurs.
According to team reporter and insider Jared Weiss of The Athletic, what he saw from Harper’s injury is good news for a Spurs team who could desperately use their star rookie in the rest of the series against the Thunder, which is currently tied up at 1-1 after OKC’s Game 2 victory.
“Dylan Harper still thought there was a chance he could beat the count. Gingerly jogging back out from the locker room after going down with a right leg injury, he hoped to return and save the day against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Wednesday’s Game 2 of the Western Conference finals,” Weiss wrote. “Harper was walking with some discomfort when he departed the locker room after the game but did not appear to be significantly hobbled.”
The Spurs officially announced that Harper would miss the rest of the game with a leg injury, but didn’t offer any subsequent updates. Following the loss, head coach Mitch Johnson told reporters that the rookie would undergo an MRI on Thursday, but the results of that have yet to be determined.
Before his injury, Harper was starting in his second game in a row for the Spurs, coming off a historic Game 1 performance in his first start of the playoffs, and fifth of his career. In Game 2, the rookie finished with 12 points, two rebounds, and three assists in 24 minutes before exiting with the injury.
Spurs Injury Report Grows After Harper, De’Aaron Fox News
GettySAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – DECEMBER 29: De’Aaron Fox #4 of the San Antonio Spurs in action during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Frost Bank Center on December 29, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
An official Harper return timeline has yet to be confirmed, but if it is a hamstring injury, it appears to be a minor one.
OG Anunoby of the New York Knicks suffered a grade 1 hamstring strain, and that kept him out for a few games. But if it is worse for Harper, which doesn’t appear to be the case, he could be looking at a weeks-long recovery, as was seen with Luka Doncic, who missed the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ season with a grade 2 hamstring strain.
But for the time being, Harper will likely end up on the Spurs’ injury report in some capacity. He’ll then join typical starting point guard De’Aaron Fox, who has yet to play in the series against the Thunder after suffering an ankle injury in their last series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Fox was first listed as questionable, before then a game-time decision, and finally ruled out for the Spurs’ first two games against Oklahoma City.
According to Johnson, his injury status for the rest of the series will remain up in the air.
“He’s just trying to play every day. It’s a tough injury that he wouldn’t be playing with in the regular season,” he said, per Weiss. “So he’s trying to tough it out, and he did that in Minnesota. Then he had an awkward landing and re-aggravated it, and we just gotta make sure that he’s in a place that he can be out there and compete to the level that he would need to in the game that we’re playing.”
So for the time being, and heading into Game 3, the injury status of San Antonio’s two point guards remains unclear. As things stand now, neither expect to miss the rest of the series against the Thunder, as the Spurs remain hopeful about Fox, and recent news of a Harper injury update doesn’t signal any long-term absence.
However, the two will likely be on the Spurs’ injury report with some sort of designation heading into Game 3, and the status of each will remain to be seen until the team offers and official injury update on both Fox and Harper going forward.
Game 3 of the Spurs vs Thunder series will be on Friday, May 22, with tipoff set for 7:30 pm CST and will be live on NBC and Peacock.
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