Feb. 21, 2026, 11:01 a.m. CT
Utilizing Jaylin Williams’ screen, Jared McCain finessed a mismatch with Day’Ron Sharpe. The 22-year-old jammed the brakes to pull up from the short-range. Swish. With a little under six minutes to go, he went on a scoring flurry to put this one away and turn in his best game of the season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder picked up a badly-needed 105-86 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Considering Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams are out for at least another week, right now is just about being unapologetic wins.
McCain finished with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting and four rebounds. He shot 3-of-6 from 3 and went 4-of-4 on free throws. He also had one steal.
That’s one way to celebrate your birthday. Three weeks after being dealt, McCain has reached the acceptance stage. He’s stoked to get a chance to play rotation minutes for the reigning NBA champion — something that wasn’t going to happen in Philadelphia.
And considering who’s all out, the Thunder gladly welcomed McCain’s hot second half. He scored 19 points. He had 10 in the fourth quarter alone to turn this into a lopsided contest. On mostly jumpers, he showed why he made some Rookie of the Year noise as soon as he made his NBA debut last season.
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Once McCain saw one dropped, he was in the groove. As the final seconds ticked away, Kenrich Williams’ screen freed enough space away from Wolf to knock down the deep pull-up outside jumper. That’s how high his confidence was. The Thunder have yearned for someone to get their own buckets for the last three weeks with everybody that’s out.
“I try not to come in with expectations, especially when it happened so quickly at the trade deadline. It kinda happened all so fast. I didn’t have time to create expectations for myself,” McCain said. “I just keep telling myself to stay ready, no matter what the opportunity is. Any minutes I get, just try and go out there and be aggressive, play confidently. I always come back to being myself.”
Really great second half by McCain. You hope this can snowball over to the upcoming upgrade in competition. The Thunder will be desperate for anybody to step up as a bucket-getter. He could fill that role at times.
“I’m very comfortable with everybody now. They welcomed me. I’m just super thankful to be in this organization. It’s truly a blessing to come here and be able to have people who have succeeded at the highest level of basketball and still give me confidence and allow me to be myself,” McCain said. “That’s what I feel like I’m at my best. The people around me, when I’m surrounded by good energy, it comes right back to me. So I’m just grateful to be here.”