On a pair of catch-and-shoot looks, Jared McCain rediscovered his groove. His undermanned squad quickly put up a double-digit lead. They can thank their en-fuego-style outside shooting for that. After a cold spell, the 22-year-old showed what the positive side of his shooting variance can look like.
The Oklahoma City Thunder looked their best since Post-D.C.C. (Dub, Chet, Caso) started with a 124-97 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The butt-whooping was part of the 2026 NBA Cup West Group B stage.
McCain finished with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and five rebounds. He shot 3-of-8 from 3. He also had four steals and one block.
Do you think McCain heard Bennett Stirtz's footsteps coming for his playing time? He's certainly played like somebody with
a fire lit underneath his seat. Showing an inkling of confidence, the microwave scorer was hot throughout the night. Sure, the outside jumpers fell. But his scoring attack within the paint has also been a nice surprise so far.
"Getting those transition shots where you got to guard Ajay, me or Shai, them driving to the basket is awesome for us," McCain said. "They make great decisions. For us, we just continue that. At halftime, we just kept our foot on the pedal."
McCain had 12 points in the first quarter. He helped the Thunder get away from this one early. As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gladly took a backseat after back-to-back 40-point nights, it was he and Ajay Mitchell who delivered OKC's first lethal punch to Memphis. The two absolutely demoralized the hot-shot, young, up-and-coming squad.
This is what the best version of McCain looks like. When he's zoned in, he needs little time to drop points in a flurry. The Thunder have learned to play a team-friendly offensive style that lessens the burden on Gilgeous-Alexander. This is what it tangibly looks like. He made OKC's decision to start him look like an absolute genius move.
"I think we're just playing together on a string. Defensively, we know what each other brings before and in the season, obviously," McCain said. "And then when people got hurt, we had to kinda figure it out. Now, we kinda know each other. We know certain things we like to do on the defensive end."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Jared McCain rediscovers outside jumper in OKC's win over Grizzlies
