Taking a moment to be helped off the floor, you can see the mixture of anger and disappointment in Ajay Mitchell’s face. After missing time with an ankle sprain, a dazzling preseason debut was cut short with another ankle injury. That popped the balloon of any positives you can take away from this outing.
Mitchell finished with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, three assists and one rebound. He shot 0-of-1 from 3 and went 4-of-5 on free throws. He had two steals and one block.
The Oklahoma City Thunder‘s 116-101 preseason loss to the Indiana Pacers was a costly trip. Mitchell and Isaiah Joe sustained injuries. If either misses time, that’s another papercut to their depth.
This is extra sour for Mitchell, too. He missed the first three preseason games with an ankle sprain. As soon as he returned, he rolled an ankle. Injuries have hampered the 23-year-old as he missed three months last season with turf toe surgery.
Playing with the rest of the Thunder bench, Mitchell was a cut above the rest. His drives to the basket resulted in buckets. He stayed aggressive and was rewarded with several trips to the free-throw line. He only played 16 minutes before he rolled his ankle, but it was enough to receive plenty of social media hype.
Even though they won an NBA championship, the Thunder need somebody else to run the offense. There were too many times last season that they had an inconsistent bench lineup. Mitchell could help solve that. He’s shown enough on-ball creation to suggest he could fortify a rotation spot.
Now, it’s about Mitchell’s injury. He just returned from an ankle sprain. It looks like he rolled it when he stepped on Barnhizer’s foot. The latest injury will be something to watch. The Thunder hope it won’t affect his Opening Night status.
“Ajay is obviously a dynamic offensive player over time. I was actually really encouraged with what he did defensively tonight,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “His strength he gained in the offseason showed up. The game has slowed down for him a little bit. I thought he was impactful for that end of the floor. That’s something we’re monitoring as he gets older, stronger and more experienced.”