Ajay Mitchell has been a huge part of this year’s Thunder team, stepping into the void left by Jalen Williams’s injury-related absences to provide secondary scoring alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But now, Mitchell is dealing with an injury of his own.
After leaving Game 3 of OKC’s win over the Spurs on Friday night, the Thunder have ruled Mitchell out for Game 4 with a right calf strain. It’s a scary injury to be dealing with given the rise of Achilles tears in the playoffs recently, and Oklahoma City is clearly playing it safe in ruling Mitchell out over 24 hours before Game 4 tips off.
The defending champs can afford to be cautious with a 2–1 series lead over Victor Wembanyama and a talented San Antonio roster. But Mitchell’s absence will be felt. He provided a consistent spark off the bench during the regular season by averaging 13.6 points in 25.8 minutes per night and elevated his game to help the Thunder rip through the first two rounds without a loss; the 23-year-old was particularly instrumental in helping the Thunder sweep the Lakers and saved his best for last with a 28-point performance in Game 4 of that series. He’s proven to be coach Mark Daigneault’s first choice to replace Williams in the starting lineup this postseason.
But now OKC will be without his talents, opening the door for another breakout star—Jared McCain—to have another big night.
Mitchell’s calf injury means McCain must keep stepping up
Acquired for a handful of draft picks at this year’s deadline, McCain has been a perfect fit for the Thunder. The roster’s only weakness is backcourt scoring off the bench, and it’s not a very significant weakness when healthy. But with Williams on the shelf it becomes more glaring. With Mitchell and Williams banged-up? There’s a severe lack of players who can create their own offense on the perimeter. Other guard options like Alex Caruso and Lu Dort aren’t out there due to their scoring prowess, while Isaiah Joe types need to be set up for open shots.
McCain is the lone exception. He can get past big men on switches to score while still proving more than capable of hitting open threes when sharing the floor with star teammates like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. During this playoff run McCain has been extremely valuable as a bench scorer who can bail out an occasionally creaky Oklahoma City offense with the clock winding down—and it’s led to some big-time performances.
The second-year guard was quiet in the first round against the Suns, but helped blow multiple games open against the Lakers in the second round with double-digit outings. His best game yet came last night, when McCain led an incredible Thunder bench performance with 24 points on 10-for-21 shooting. With Mitchell and Williams both sidelined there aren’t any other OKC players outside of SGA who are even comfortable taking that many shots, much less capable of making nearly half of them.
McCain’s team will need more from him starting in Game 4. It’ll be harder than ever. He is now the most talented scoring option behind Gilgeous-Alexander and San Antonio knows it; the defense will be far more keyed in on him than in previous contests. But he will get all the touches necessary to have a big game because there’s no one else to do the job.
McCain has stepped up so far in a Thunder uniform—and this will be his biggest test yet.
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