As De’Aaron Fox grabbed his arm from behind, Jared McCain flung up a one-handed prayer that banked in. The 360-no-scope and-one layup had the OKC crowd agasp. Once again, the 22-year-old gladly stepped into the improbable hero role.
The Oklahoma City Thunder picked up a critical 127-114 Game 5 win over the San Antonio Spurs. They’re now ahead 3-2 in the 2026 Western Conference Finals.
McCain finished with 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting and three rebounds. He shot 3-of-9 from 3 and went 3-of-5 on free throws.
Take a bow, OKC’s coaching staff. Your decision to start McCain paid dividends and might’ve saved your season. The Thunder badly needed secondary offensive juice. Or they risk falling behind from the jump as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets blitzed with zero hope of getting bailed out.
Not much happened in the first half. At best, the move was irrelevant. At worst, it added to the muddiness of OKC’s offense. But then McCain saw his circus shot somehow fall in. And that was enough for him to get into a roll. He scored an unreal 18 points in the second half.
Hunting his shot, McCain drilled a couple of mid-range jumpers. And then he finally hit an outside shot. As great as he’s been this series, his outside jumper has ironically been mostly absent. Doesn’t matter. Shooting percentages mean very little to him. As long as he’s open, he possesses a quick green light to let it fly.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault explained his decision to go with McCain as a starter. It’s the fourth time in five games that OKC has had to change its starting lineup. Partially due to injuries and strategy.
“I’m not crazy about who the starters are. It’s just the first substitution. We just thought he could give us some good stuff with that unit. Just based on where we are right now with a couple of guys out. He was really good. His pop early was excellent. He kept himself in the game,” Daigneault said about McCain. “Had that flurry in the third and then a flurry again in the fourth, so great mental toughness. I never take it for granted when somebody steps into a role like that in a game like this, but certainly not surprised. He’s got great moxie and confidence.”
I mean, this is just storybook stuff, man. The Thunder added McCain at the NBA trade deadline as a luxury. Three months later, he’s a necessity. Two 20-point games in the Western Conference Finals show just how much he’s accelerated through his career arc. Five months ago, he was in the G League. One month ago, he couldn’t even crack OKC’s rotation in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs.
“He just kinda earned it as he went. Phoenix series, he wasn’t in rotation. That was these playoffs. He just doesn’t change character. That’s one of the great qualities of a lot of our players,” Daigneault said about McCain. “Kenrich Williams played a great game tonight. He’s just rises from the bench and has big games in these Western Conference Finals. I think he’s done a tremendous job. They put him in a position that we trust him in the spot that we put him in tonight. He certainly delivered.”
One teammate McCain has impressed is Isaiah Hartenstein. Featured in a handful of TikTok videos, it didn’t take long for those two to build their chemistry. Not that long ago, Sam Presti said he might’ve underestimated how a new player would gel with their group. Of course, you don’t want to mess with a team’s chemistry. So far, the 22-year-old has been a seamless fit in OKC after spending the start of his NBA career on the Philadelphia 76ers.
“He’s a special human being. I think just in general, no one will change the way he is. I’ve never seen someone so happy every single day. It gives something to the locker room. I can’t be mad looking at him. Does that make sense? He comes into the facility smiling on his face every time. You just can’t be mad,” Hartenstein said. “I think he just brings something again, something off the court. Where it just helps the morale for the team.”
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: OKC’s gamble to start Jared McCain paid off in Game 5 win over Spurs