With the Lakers holding reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in check, a new star is emerging for the Thunder, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Second-year guard Ajay Mitchell, who wasn’t part of OKC’s rotation during its march to the title last season, had 24 points, 10 assists and no turnovers on Saturday as his team grabbed a 3-0 series lead with another dominant victory.
“I think the biggest thing for me was just going out there and being confident,” Mitchell said. “I know what I can do. When I go out there, I just want to compete and help this team win and play freely.”
Mitchell, who finished fifth in the Sixth Man of the Year voting, is only starting because Jalen Williams is sidelined with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. He has been a difference-maker in the first three games of the series, averaging 20.7 points, 6.7 assists and 1.0 turnovers while connecting at 53.3% from the field. He has also been the primary defender on Austin Reaves, who hasn’t shot well for most of the series.
“He’s just finding his footing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s obviously his first run in the playoffs. It’s obviously a different ballgame. He’s just getting more and more comfortable as the game goes on, as the series goes on. I said this before, he had a rough [Game 2 in Phoenix], but he was so confident out there. I was never worried that he was going to figure it out, and he’s showing that.”
There’s more on the Thunder:
- L.A.’s focus on controlling Gilgeous-Alexander has been effective, even though Oklahoma City is finding other ways to win, MacMahon adds. SGA finished with 23 points in Game 3, but was uncharacteristically inefficient, making just seven of his 20 shots. The Lakers are using former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart to deny him the ball and then employing double teams whenever it does come to him. “Obviously, I haven’t been my best in performances, but I think I’ve been able to help the team win and that’s most important,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “As long as we win. If the rest of the playoff run or the rest of my career look like what it looked like the past few games, I’d be OK with it because we won games.”
- Mitchell could become one of the league’s biggest bargains over the next couple of years, notes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. As the 38th pick in the 2024 draft, he’s already the lowest-paid player on the roster at $3MM, and his salary falls to $2.85MM next season with a team option for the same amount for 2027/28. He’ll be extension-eligible by that point, and Mussatto expects the Thunder to reward him with a long-term contract that’s more in line with his production.
- Cason Wallace, who posted the highest-scoring playoff performance of his career with 12 points in Game 2, nearly exceeded it in the first quarter on Saturday, notes Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman. The third-year guard scored 11 points in the quarter by hitting all four of his shots, including three from beyond the arc, before finishing with 16. Isaiah Joe, who was losing playing time to Jared McCain earlier in the series, added 12 points and went 4-of-6 from three-point range.
- The Thunder, who already have the deepest roster in the league, could get even better with some lottery luck Sunday afternoon. They own the Clippers’ selection at No. 12, giving them a 1.5% chance to land the top overall pick and a 7.1% chance to finish in the top four, as we outlined in our lottery primer.
The funny part of this a lot of so called basketball fans in here think depth doesn’t matter. You guys probably also think Morey is a great roster builder. Depth matters in the nba.
Must hurt for you seeing the 76ers trade away McCain. That trade no sense because Mccain was so good last year before getting hurt.
Money also let Joe go for nothing.
Depth is huge! Yes! Injuries happen in every sport and maybe more so than in the past. If you have depth, you can weather the storm much more easily. OKC has depth … big time depth.
OKC is a joy to watch if you love NBA. They play both defense and offense and the depth on the team is so good their second unit could play with any team. I only see 1 team that can compete with them in the Spurs because of Wemby basket protection could alter OKC offense.
Lol, IMO those floppers are the opposite of a “joy to watch”. Their games take forever with all the ref bias churn.
Unfounded conspiracy nonsense.
What conspiracy are you claiming? It’s a fact that their opponents complain about the favorable officiating they get especially on defense, for good reasons.
ARC: Completely SPOT-ON. San Antonio has a chance to unseat OKC, but if they do not it’ll take an awful lot of good fortune for a team from the East to do so…. The OKC defense-offense combo is deadly.
OKC knows how to draft and develop it is just that simple. I don’t think any team has this many 2nd round, undrafted guys or late 1st that contribute.
They are so good at development that they developed a head coach.
Yeah, how does OKC do that? Isaiah Joe played 2 years for Philly, had a 49% eFG so they waived him. OKC signed him and he’s been shooting at a 61% clip ever since.
It’s because no one wants to sign with OKC and live in such a poisoned water table.
To pay Austin Reeves more than 25-30m would be insane. He looks like a 4th option or good 6th man like Clarkson.