On the night directly following the gut-punch, tear-inducing injuries to core starters Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, the OKC Thunder didn't miss a beat, coasting to a 125-114 win over the Phoenix Suns.
While most may have imagined such an effort would have been led by the reigning two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, in actuality, Ajay Mitchell proved to be the star of the show.
In 25 minutes of action, the combo guard dropped a career-high 30 points on 62.5 percent shooting from the field, showcasing his lightning-quick first step and smooth ball-handling on a heavy isolation-driven night.
Now, with Mitchell set to serve in the same role for the foreseeable future, Gilgeous-Alexander is already outwardly noting that he expects the same kind of production on a nightly basis moving forward, which, quite frankly, should only help the superstar fully unlock the new bag of off-ball tricks that he worked on throughout the offseason.
Ajay Mitchell dominance should help Thunder superstar's off-ball play
This past summer, reports and video clips frequently surfaced regarding Gilgeous-Alexander's emphasis on honing his off-ball offense in his workouts.
Though historically known as an isolation master, the four-time All-Star clearly felt a need to add to his on-court arsenal.
Team Canada Senior Men's Basketball head coach Gordie Herbert believes that mastering his craft of navigating a defense without the rock in his hands and setting himself up for catch-and-shoot scoring looks could make him become even less predictable than he already is.
While some may have been under the impression that all this work may have ultimately been for naught this season following the brutal injury and subsequent shelving of Williams, as he was widely believed to be the one who would have handled the ball and taken the attention away from Shai, with Mitchell's dominance against Phoenix, clearly, Gilgeous-Alexander is still in good hands.
It seemed that every time Mitchell had the ball, he was beelinging his way straight from the perimeter to the rack, drawing several defenders while en route.
Now in year three, it's clear he's developed a reputation as a real problem in the scoring department, as made evident by his career-high performance.
Moving forward, the hope should be that this attention he generates from an opposing defense will lessen the eyes following Shai, which, as a result, should stand to benefit his cushion of space on offense and hopefully his catch-and-shoot opportunities.
Though it may have only been his first start of the season, this pairing of Mitchell and SGA has the potential to be absolutely lethal in the drive-and-kick game and, thus, for Gilgeous-Alexander's off-ball scoring productivity.
Add us as a preferred source on Google