LOS ANGELES — Ajay Mitchell usually defaults to his straight face, but abandoned it for this surge. In theory, the opening stretch of Saturday’s fourth quarter, spent without his Oklahoma City Thunder teammate and MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left the Los Angeles Lakers room to keep Game 3 ajar. But Gilgeous-Alexander’s eyes bulged from the scorer’s table as he watched what unfolded: Mitchell skewered the Lakers, leading a lineup that lent him control.
He dribbled where he pleased. He scored at different levels. “My God,” SGA mouthed at one point, dazzled by Mitchell’s shotmaking. Only a Lakers timeout could deter Mitchell. Upon that whistle, after he’d all but secured the Thunder’s 131-108 win and a 3-0 series lead, he screamed at anyone in his vicinity.
“It just felt like every time they had something, Ajay had an answer,” Gilgeous-Alexander said postgame.
From the sideline, SGA watched the 23-year-old tally nine points and four assists in the fourth before forcing the Lakers to call for time, finishing with career playoff highs in points (24) and assists (10) in his fifth postseason start.
Mitchell, counted on to begin his second season as a reliable playmaker and offensive organizer, was thrust into a greater role in these playoffs after All-NBA wing Jalen Williams strained his hamstring in the first round against the Phoenix Suns. That steady playmaking has been on display against three games of meticulous defensive coverages from JJ Redick’s Lakers, who vowed not to let Gilgeous-Alexander beat them on an island. Suddenly, Mitchell’s obligations dwarfed his experience.
Regular-season depth can prove deceitful. In the playoffs, rotations shorten, minutes grow scarce, trust shrinks and dependability wanes. The Thunder, though, play by different rules. The team platoons lineups and pushes enough buttons that Redick acknowledged the absurdity of OKC’s roster construction hours before it pinned the Lakers’ season to the mat.
“The (Nikola) Topić kid has dealt with some health stuff, and their rookie (Thomas Sorber) is dealing with coming back from his offseason surgery,” Redick said pregame. “Literally the other 13 guys are all top seven or eight rotation players in the NBA on any team. So they can just hit you with bodies. Just the nature of how they built that team.”
With Gilgeous-Alexander religiously crowded by two defenders in Game 3, the Thunder needed someone to supplement his poise and offensive load. They turned to Mitchell.
Much to Redick’s chagrin, Mitchell spent last season incubating. After encouraging flashes, turf-toe surgery shut down much of his rookie year. He spent a lot of time scouting, soaking up the inner workings of a championship team while recovering and preparing for his sophomore season.
This year granted him a chance to exceed the expectations that come with being an eyebrow-raising second-round pick. It offered an opportunity to help shape the OKC offense, particularly whenever Gilgeous-Alexander exited the game. Mitchell won his minutes without SGA in both Games 1 and 2, then broke even in Game 3.
“I feel like there’s already a high level of confidence for him individually, like what he exudes,” center Chet Holmgren said. “Then there’s a high level of confidence that everybody around him has in him, and that’s just continuing to grow.”
The three finalists for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and VJ Edgecombe, all logged more minutes than Mitchell has in his career. He’s played 93 games across two seasons. In his past two games, he has totaled 44 points on 29 shot attempts and 16 assists.
One of veteran Thunder guard Alex Caruso’s favorite moments from last year’s title run was coach Mark Daigneault’s peculiar decision to play Mitchell in Game 1 of the NBA Finals after the then-rookie had played sparingly for weeks. But Daigneault watched Mitchell on the team’s off days, when the end-of-bench reserves ran half-court scrimmages. He saw what Mitchell is now showing.
“I look back on that and I say he’s making me look bad,” Daigneault half-joked. “We knew what we had. … I’d be sitting over here a year ago and watching him in these high intensity things like, ‘What the hell am I doing?’”
Mitchell’s best asset was his ability to create offense, threatening enough as a scorer and playmaker to draw attention from the MVP beside him. But his growth is most conspicuous when SGA sits, and he’s guarded by starters with the team’s rhythm in his hands. That’s when Mitchell rises up scouting reports.
In this series, even without remarkable 3-point efficiency, Mitchell is touching the paint at will. He hasn’t aligned himself with role players or reserves. He’s reached for stardom in Williams’ absence. In Game 3, he became the first player in since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City to record at least 20 points and 10 assists without a turnover.
“It felt like (Ajay) had 100,” Gilgeous-Alexander quipped to his teammates in the locker room.
Prior to Saturday, three players posted games with at least 10 field goals and 10 assists during this postseason: Nikola Jokić, Cade Cunningham and Scottie Barnes, each of whom did it twice. Add Mitchell to that group.
What he has lacked in efficiency or experience, he’s made up for in moments. He has supplied as much assurance and poise as he has promise.
“It really doesn’t matter what happened the last possession or the last half or the last game, which is usually a mark of a more veteran player,” Daigneault said of Mitchell’s disposition. “He’s got an innate ability to do that. He hangs in there long enough to play well.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has played a role in curating the kind of environment that enables youthful mistakes and encourages improvement. He watched Mitchell bulldoze through OKC’s vaunted defense during his first training camp and remain upright. For a guard prepackaged with composure, Gilgeous-Alexander offered more perspective than confidence.
“You just try not to take it away,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He’s human. Ajay definitely doubts things, I promise you that. You just always try to make sure that the doubt doesn’t take away from his confidence.
“You coach Ajay. You don’t worry about the emotional stuff.”
The Thunder’s depth allowed Daigneault to decide that, after a couple of drilled 3s, it was Isaiah Joe’s turn and not Jared McCain’s. It allowed Cason Wallace to score 11 first-quarter points. It allowed the pairing of Isaiah Hartenstein and Holmgren, who shot a combined 14 for 16 in the paint to account for 28 of the Thunder’s 64 paint points. And it covered for Gilgeous-Alexander’s 7-of-20 shooting, a safety net about 12 men wide by Redick’s estimation.
Redick’s pregame praise eventually rang prophetic. The Thunder’s depth brought forward another would-be star in Mitchell, who in Game 3 loudly orchestrated the Lakers’ demise.
