The picture is an AI-generated illustration, not a photograph from the match
Ajay Mitchell scored a career-high 35 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 28 as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies 128-97 on Friday night in an NBA Cup group-stage game at FedExForum.
A career night set up before halftime
The career high arrived in the least dramatic way possible. Mitchell took 20 shots for 35 points, found five assists and was on the floor for a plus-33 stretch as Oklahoma City pulled away.
Oklahoma City was converting 69 per cent of its shots through the first half, including nine of 17 from three-point range, and it left the locker room 71-49 in front.
Mitchell had been averaging 21.6 points across the five games before this one, and the Thunder's injury list has handed him a permanent share of the second-creator duties.
Gilgeous-Alexander contributed 28 on 11-of-22 shooting with four assists, three rebounds and a block after scoring 43 and 42 in Oklahoma City's two wins over Cleveland.
Jared McCain supplied 21 points from 9 of 14 and four steals, and the Thunder finished with 16 of 35 from three-point range at 46 per cent.
Memphis's shot never arrives
The Grizzlies managed five made three-pointers in the first half and finished 10 of 45, a 22 per cent night for the team that had entered the week leading the league in the category.
Oklahoma City forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 30 points, and Memphis recorded no blocks on a night it shot 29 of 88 from the floor.
This is now 16 consecutive wins against Memphis, a run that includes the four-game sweep in the first round of the 2025 playoffs.
Ty Jerome led the Grizzlies with 21 points and five of five from the free-throw line; Zach Edey added 14 points on 3 of 7 shooting with eight free throws and four offensive rebounds.
Rookie Cameron Boozer was held to eight points on 2 of 14 shooting although he collected 12 rebounds and four assists, and Quinten Post went scoreless in 15 minutes on 0 of 7.
Seven and two, six and three
The Thunder improved to 7-2 and kept their home record intact at 4-0, while the Grizzlies dropped to 6-3 with a 2-3 mark at FedExForum.
Isaiah Hartenstein scored two points but delivered seven assists and finished plus-31, the highest rating on either side.
Memphis played without Isaiah Stewart and Scotty Pippen Jr., and the absence of a rim protector showed in the 62 points Oklahoma City scored in the paint.
Bennett Stirtz added 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting with two steals, and Alex Caruso finished with six rebounds and a plus-23 in 20 minutes off the bench.
Up next: the Thunder host the Washington Wizards on Saturday, and the Grizzlies travel to Toronto for Monday's fixture.
Editor's take: NBA Cup group games are supposed to be the ones teams play badly. Both coaches will have seen enough Friday to want the December stakes to arrive early.
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