New guards inject scoring and energy, dazzling in a blowout win while key players recover. Their emergence sparks immediate excitement.
The Oklahoma City Thunder came out of the All-Star Break still down their three primary shot creators, ball handlers and playmakers.
But a couple of young guards supplied a spark in their first game after the break and may help bridge the gap until their return.
OKC is undoubtedly missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell. The Thunder offense is having to adjust on the fly and attempt to manufacture points without the reigning MVP, an All-NBA player and a Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
Enter Jared McCain and Nikola Topic.
The two newest Thunder rotation players provided a boost off the bench both in scoring and in crowd energy in Friday night's win over the Brooklyn Nets. An otherwise plodding slug of a game became an entertaining watch whenever McCain or Topic were on the court.
McCain scored a team-high 21 points on 7-12 shooting including 3-6 from deep and 4-4 from the free throw line. It's the most points the former Philadelphia 76er has scored in an OKC jersey. As a matter of fact, the sharpshooter has scored more points in each consecutive Thunder game. And McCain's big night just so happened to come on his 22nd birthday.
"Jared's a guy that I think he's dynamic offensively," Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daigneault said after the win over Brooklyn. "He's got more to his game than just spot up shooting. You could see that tonight."
Topic scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting including 1-2 from long range in only 11 minutes. In only his second career game, the 20 year old point guard looked more comfortable and confident with every possession. After coming back from an ACL tear and a battle with testicular cancer, Topic flashed the talent that made him such a highly regarded prospect in the 2024 NBA Draft. The highlight of the night came after a quick stretch in which Topic splashed a catch and shoot 3 pointer, dropped a heady assist to Isaiah Hartenstein and went coast to coast for a tough, driving finger roll bucket. The sequence caused Brooklyn to call a timeout and was met with a well earned standing ovation from Loud City.
“He was great. Played really well. Obviously, that’s his second NBA game. So to really evaluate him in a context would be unfair. But he’s obviously a really good player. He’s got a really good sense for the game. He goes in there and acts like he belongs," Daigneault said of Topic. "He's obviously got a long way to go, even just from a conditioning standpoint. But we're excited about him."
OKC is currently without their trio of primary ball handlers. But for at least one night, the new kids on the Thunder block delivered the scoring punch needed to win. And gave Oklahoma City fans even more reason to be excited about their future.