Oklahoma City’s young guard showcased the play expected of him on Friday night. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder started their NBA Cup campaign off with a bang as they took down the Memphis Grizzlies 128-97. This was a great game for OKC as a whole, as it was complete Thunder domination from the beginning. 

Ajay Mitchell led Oklahoma City in scoring with 35 points, a new career high for the rising star. Additionally, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was as impressive as always, scoring 28 points on 50% shooting from the field. These two have been consistently leading the Oklahoma City squad, but on Friday, there was another guard who showed up ready to play. 

Jared McCain has had a rough past couple of games, as his three-point shooting has been in a slump; however, he turned that right around in Friday’s game. McCain had a season-high 21 points and shot the ball much better from deep. He made three shots from downtown, more than his past four games combined. 

However, it wasn’t just McCain’s scoring that made up his great game, but the other aspects that he excelled in. McCain grabbed five boards on the night and had a season-high four steals. It was an overall great night for the young guard, and OKC now knows that McCain can be counted on as the season continues. 

The Thunder will need McCain to continue playing at this level, especially with all the injuries the team has faced. No Cason Wallace and no Jalen Williams have left the Thunder without two key backcourt players, and McCain has to be the next man up. The Thunder will be relying on him for his three-point shooting, and can not see McCain go into another slump as he did these past couple of games. 

If McCain can continue supporting OKC as he did on Friday night, then the injury-riddled team could easily survive until players like Chet Holmgren are ready to go once again. Furthermore, McCain will need to continue his all-around play as the season continues to truly step up into the role he will be required to play. 

The Thunder guard had a great bounce-back performance on Friday night, but now it must become the new normal. With multiple stars out for the Thunder, they can’t afford for their role players to slack off at all as the season continues. McCain will have to spearhead this effort and could be the one who helps lead OKC to one of the best records in the league.