Monday night's exhilarating, down-to-the-wire matchup between the OKC Thunder and Denver Nuggets may have left fans frothing at the mouth over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's historic efforts, but right up there with post-game takeaways is the new dynamic duo that seemed to form on the floor for Oklahoma City.
Following a nearly seven-week, injury-induced absence, Ajay Mitchell finally made his way back to the lineup, where he got back to his sensational, well-rounded ways by posting 24 points, three assists, two rebounds, and a steal while committing zero turnovers and registering a plus-11 plus-minus.
While his individual performance alone is enough to stir up excitement, it was the communal play between him and Jared McCain that really deserves recognition.
Thunder may have new dynamic duo in Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain
OKC's 129-126 win over Denver served as the first time that both Mitchell and McCain shared the floor together, as the former has been shelved since January 23 with an abdominal strain, while the latter only arrived in the Sooner State on February 4 via trade.
Though they only saw a combined 35 possessions together, the initial results from both the eye test and advanced metrics suggest the Thunder may have a lethal combo on their hands with these two.
Together, Mitchell and McCain registered a whopping 37 points on 56.5 percent shooting from the floor and 44.4 percent shooting from deep, while the team boasted a point differential of plus-27.3, an effective field goal percentage of 73.5, a turnover percentage of 0.0, and was on pace to post a ridiculous 171.4 points per 100 possessions while sharing the floor.
All rank in the 100 percentile.
Again, these numbers come from an extremely limited sample size, but they only seem to back up what viewers should have been feeling while watching the game against Denver: these two have highly complementary playstyles.
Both are extremely versitile, inside-out scorers who can thrive both on and off the ball. McCain, in particular, has shown an affinity for constantly moving around the floor with his hands free, setting himself up for optimal catch-and-shoot opportunities.
Prior to going down with injury, Mitchell was the third-highest scorer on the Thunder (minimum of 30 games played). Since the All-Star break, McCain has been the club's fourth-highest scorer (minimum five games).
When compared to last year's title-winning team, there's a case to be made that this 2025-26 iteration of the Thunder is even better, with their top-flight bench production serving as a driving factor in this assessment.
Paving the way for their second-unit squad have been the likes of Mitchell and McCain, and, with them now finally sharing the floor together, it will be interesting to see if they can sustain this small-sample dominance for this final stretch of the regular season and throughout the playoffs.