Ajay Mitchell has officially been ruled out for Wednesday's rematch bout against the Portland Trail Blazers with an ankle sprain, leaving OKC Thunder cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander without his number two scoring option.
Fortunately for him and Oklahoma City as a whole, Jared McCain appears ready to slide into such a role.
Following a rough start to the 2026-27 season, one where he was averaging just 10.1 points on 33.7 percent shooting from the floor and 26.7 percent shooting from deep during the first eight games of the year, McCain has finally seemed to snap out of his rut over these past three outings.
Logging 27.7 minutes per night, the 22-year-old finds himself dropping impressive averages of 20.3 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting a lights-out 63.9 percent from the floor and 47.4 percent from deep.
The Thunder haven't lost back-to-back games since the end of last season, and, even throughout the entire 2025-26 campaign, only did so on five total occasions.
Though they may be down guys like Jalen Williams (ankle), Cason Wallace (shoulder), Chet Holmgren (knee), and, now, Mitchell, the fact that McCain's finally caught fire certainly helps boost the odds that they may be able to stave off such a happening on this second night of a back-to-back against the Blazers.
Jared McCain erupted on Trail Blazers during Tuesday Thunder loss
The Thunder may have endured their third blowout loss of the year Tuesday night, but Jared McCain found himself putting forth arguably his best offensive performance yet.
In his fifth start of the season, the two guard erupted for a whopping 21 points (second to only Gilgeous-Alexander's 26) while cashing in on four of his seven attempts from long-range and shooting 50.0 percent from the field as a whole.
Whether he was maneuvering off the ball and finding open looks in catch-and-shoot sets or knifing through the defense with the rock in his hands for a smooth finish at the rim or an exciting, highlight-reel dime, McCain dug deep into his bag during OKC's last outing and reminded everyone of just how lethal an offensive talent he is when he's in a groove.
What bodes well for Wednesday night is the fact that he was able to be this productive against this same Portland team, while ceding touches and opportunities to Ajay Mitchell as the team's number three option.
In this rematch against Portland, one should only expect McCain's usage to increase drastically. Hopefully, his already impressive production will, too.
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