OKLAHOMA CITY — When it rains, it pours.

To cap off the preseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder utilized the first half against the Atlanta Hawks to get their starters some run. It was the final game before a week off, so this was the perfect chance to work out any rust.

Alas, the results were bittersweet. The Thunder’s starters looked impressive, but Jalen Williams’ ankle sprain spoiled the bright spots.

The injury hung above the Thunder’s 104-99 preseason win over the Hawks like a cloud. It concluded a productive preseason slate that was depleted near the finish line with key injuries to Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein. OKC now limps into the regular season hoping for better health by its season-opener against the Denver Nuggets.

“I don’t think we’ve been as sharp as we’ve been,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “But had some good possessions. Had some possessions where we could’ve been a little sharper from an execution standpoint. We’ll look at them. We got a lot of practice time now before the opener to get our blade sharpened.”

After the first quarter, the Hawks held a slight 28-27 lead. It remained a close contest through the first half. Atlanta entered the break with a 51-49 lead. The rest of the contest turned into a battle of bench players. Neither team created serious distance on the scoreboard. The Thunder entered the fourth quarter down 79-77.

The Thunder had a 27-point fourth quarter to complete the comeback and collect the preseason finale win. The Hawks attempted to extend the contest in the final seconds, but OKC kept swishing its free throws to seal the final result.

The Thunder shot 44% from the field and went 14-of-37 (37.8%) from 3. They had 27 assists on 36 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points. OKC had 63 bench points. Ousmane Dieng, Isaiah Joe and Ajay Mitchell led the second unit with 10-plus points each.

Chet Holmgren had 15 points before he sat out the second half. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a light day with six points. Williams had another strong outing before his injury sucked the air out of the building. Meanwhile, the Hawks shot 39% from the field and went 16-of-54 (29.6%) from 3. They had 25 assists on 39 baskets. Two Hawks players scored double-digit points. The rest struggled to produce buckets.

Several Hawks players sat out as this was the second night of a road back-to-back. Trae Young and Zaccharie Risacher were the most notable absences. Kobe Bufkin scored 31 points on 12-of-26 shooting. He shot 7-of-14 from 3. Dyson Daniels had 13 points and eight rebounds.

As mentioned earlier, the Thunder will have a week off before their season opener. OKC hopes to have avoided a serious injury to Williams as all eyes will be on the 23-year-old’s status. If he misses time to start the season, that could cause trouble.

“Now we’ve got a nice stretch of practice over the weekend and into next week that we really need to capitalize on,” Daigneault said. “We won’t have a stretch of practice like this for the rest of the regular season.”