Lowering his head, Ajay Mitchell drove straight to the basket with force. He shouldered his way through Ben Sheppard before a floater gently fell through for the impressive and-one bucket. The Oklahoma City Thunder needed every point they could get in the overtime sessions. He stepped up for a career night.

Mitchell finished with a career-best 26 points on 9-of-19 shooting, four assists and three rebounds. He shot 0-of-3 from 3 and went 8-of-8 on free throws. He also had one steal.

Advertisement

The Thunder survived a 141-135 2OT win over the Indiana Pacers. With Jalen Williams out and Chet Holmgren struggling, it was Mitchell who stepped up as OKC’s second-best player.

There’s been a lot of buzz around Mitchell this year. The added muscle helped him drive to the basket. His championship experience has helped slow the game down. A busy night inside the paint helped him break out.

The Pacers couldn’t slow him down either, as he looked like a mini-version of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. When the Thunder needed a bucket, he stepped up. Especially in the bench lineup minutes. The reigning MVP noticed and gave him his props after the marathon ended.

“We had two overtimes in two games. Just like, ‘Way to play. Thank God we got that win and you’re a pretty good basketball player,'” Mitchell said on talking with Gilgeous-Alexander after the win. “It was cool to have that moment with him. Obviously, just see the trust he put in myself. Me being able to go out there and make plays with him on the court too, was pretty fun. Just gotta keep playing and getting better.”

Advertisement

An unreal performance by Mitchell. If he cements his spot as one of the regular rotation players, this will be the fork-in-the-road moment. Breaking out the way he did gives the Thunder another option they can go to when they need a bucket. He also revealed some personal motivation for the best game of his young career yet.

“It was great. Today was my grandma’s birthday and she passed a year ago. It was a little special for me coming into tonight,” Mitchell said. “I thought of her this whole night, so I was pretty happy we got the win. And I played that way.”

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Ajay Mitchell dedicates breakout game vs. Pacers to late grandmother