Player grades: Thunder have fun 1st half in 116-110 preseason loss to Pelicans

TULSA — Only needing one dribble to make his next read, Jared McCain went with the near full-court pass to Aday Mara. The seven-foot behemoth capped off the quick alley-oop play. Both players lit things up in the first half. Everything went perfectly for the B squad.

The Oklahoma City Thunder opened their 2026-27 NBA preseason with a 116-110 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Even with the main rotation sitting out, the Tulsa BOK Center got its money’s worth.

The Thunder didn’t need long to prove the doubters wrong that they remain 17-deep. Setting the tone early, Mara’s contest at Yves Missi’s dunk attempt resulted in a foul. The seven-footer amped his physicality. Kenrich Williams got things going with a left-wing 3-pointer.

The basket remained wide open from that point. Thanks to crisp ball movement — sans Ajay Mitchell’s hero-shot moments — the Thunder absolutely buried the Pelicans on the scoreboard from the outside. McCain and Bennett Stirtz were the main flamethrowers.

After the first quarter, the Thunder had a 34-28 lead over the Pelicans. From that moment onward, things only escalated. The Thunder went on a 14-3 run in the second quarter. Mara was affecting shot attempts at the rim on one end. On the other end, he ran down the floor for transition layups. It didn’t take long for the 2026 NBA draft No. 12 pick to get folks excited about his potential.

It was another high-scoring frame. The Thunder put up 33 points in the second quarter. They had a 67-52 lead. Keep in mind, the Pelicans ran out their Opening Night starters. McCain hit a trick-shot jumper to enter the halftime break. That’s all the OKC coaching staff needed to see.

With the Pelicans still running out Zion Williamson and friends, the Thunder rolled out their C squad. All of their two-way guys and Exhibit-10 dudes played the second half. The only constant from both halves was Stirtz. Even Mara had shown enough to get a short night.

The Thunder’s lack of NBA talent on the floor kinda reflected on the scoreboard. Finally, the Pelicans made up ground. All it took was for OKC to sit out its first-string and second-string guys. The Thunder only scored 26 points in the third quarter. The defense fell apart. After three frames, it was suddenly a 93-90 contest.

Things continued to avalanche for the Pelicans. They strung together 11 consecutive points at one point in the final frame. It didn’t take long for the scoreboard to return to square one. Bryce McGowens swished an outside jumper to tie things up at 107 points apiece. And then Karlo Matkovic put New Orleans ahead on the next possession with five-plus minutes to go.

On their third stringers, OKC’s offense fell apart. Zero scoring juice was left. Stirtz twisted his ankle and had to leave early. The Thunder only scored 17 points en route to a blown 24-point meltdown. By the final buzzer, the BOK Center was mostly just its blue and grey empty seat covers. Fans had filed out.

The Thunder shot 53% from the field and went 16-of-33 (48.5%) from 3. They shot 14-of-21 on free throws. They had 29 assists on 40 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Mara led the way with 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Stirtz had 15 points and six assists. McCain had 12 points and five assists. Mitchell finished with 11 points and four assists. Brooks Barnhier had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Pelicans shot 40% from the field and went 12-of-33 (36.4%) from 3. They shot 34-of-47 on free throws. They had 24 assists on 35 baskets. Five Pelicans players scored double-digit points.

Zion Williamson was quiet with 11 points and four rebounds. Trey Murphy III had 11 points and three rebounds. Jeremiah Fears tallied 12 points and two rebounds. Bennedict Mathurin popped off for 13 points and five assists. Derik Queen had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Great start to the NBA preseason for the Thunder. The backend of their bench showed tangible proof of being NBA contributors. It’s been a minute since OKC has had a successful bundle of young players. It feels like Mara and Stirtz are next in line for that. At least, that feels like the case through one night.

Let’s look at Thunder player grades:

Keeping his feet down, Mara stood his ground over Queen. He swatted away his reverse layup attempt. Running the floor, Williams rewarded him. He fed the ball to the seven-plus-footer. He glided off the hardwood to go with the nifty finger-roll layup.

Mara finished with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting, nine rebounds and three assists. He also had three blocks. Apparently, one half sufficed as the Thunder pulled the plug at halftime. Quite the statement for his NBA preseason debut.

This was easily the best-case scenario for Mara’s first action with his real Thunder teammates. He completely bodied the Pelicans on both ends of the floor. If he wasn’t running the floor to get transition buckets, he magnified his physicality to push their hefty frontcourt around.

The rebounding was superb, too. He almost recorded a double-double in one half alone. He towered over several New Orleans players to grab loose balls. So much for that being a weakness of his. At least through one night. Feeling confident, Mara even showed off his playmaking chops. The Thunder rotated around him like he was a sun to a galaxy.

Throughout the pre-draft cycle, Mara was viewed as one of the more polarizing prospects. Sure, his unique size makes him a menace on both ends of the floor. But how translatable is that to the NBA level? Well, for one half, you saw what the absolute best-case scenario is. His improved conditioning was obvious from the jump. The 7-foot-3 center was light on his feet. And when you combine that with his natural skills, you get OKC’s potentially next big-time hit in its developmental pipeline.

What a find, what a finish 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/rJEZeBaDlo

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 7, 2026

Catching Mitchell’s outlet pass, McCain quickly went to work. Every second counted as the halftime buzzer was about to sound. After dodging getting hit on the catch, he spun around to swish in the outside jumper just before the Thunder went into their break.

McCain finished with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, five assists and one rebound. He shot 4-of-8 from 3. He also had one steal.

It didn’t take long for McCain to make his presence known. With all of OKC’s top players out, he salivated at being a top-scoring option. Even in a preseason environment. He nailed three outside jumpers in the opening frame. Putting up plenty of shot attempts, that’s all the Thunder needed to see. He sat out the second half and had time to change his outfit.

The Tulsa crowd absolutely adored McCain. The loudest pops involved his outside jumpers. Of course, that’s par for the course. At every single one of his basketball stops — from Duke to OKC — he’s been an instant fan favorite. His SpongeBob-esque personality has won the fanbase over as it desperately hopes he can be a notable piece for them.

You don’t need much time to detect that McCain just walks around extremely confident about himself. In this instance, it took less than a basketball half. Enjoying a healthy offseason, he’s set to have a big-time role as a bucket-getter off the bench. This was a step in the right direction towards that.

JMac came out HOT in the first half 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DuPLjDM3dr

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 7, 2026

Hanging out at the left-wing spot, Stirtz received Josh Dix’s kickout pass. Swish. Next possession, same thing but on the opposite side. The 24-year-old caught McCain’s pass from the right-wing spot. Another swish. Back-to-back outside jumpers caught fans’ attention.

Stirtz finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, six assists and five rebounds. He shot 3-of-6 from 3.

That’s quite a first impression to make, huh? Sam Presti has whiffed over the last couple of years, but it really feels like he’s finally added some day-one contributors with Mara and Stirtz in this past NBA draft. In the latter’s case, he looked completely natural in a secondary role — something he’s consciously worked on since he arrived in OKC. He’s hoping to go from ‘The Man’ in college to a man in the NBA.

Playing alongside OKC’s B squad, Stirtz showed off his sweet-looking shot. The outside jumpers feathered through the net. The Thunder are banking on him to carry on the torch that Isaiah Joe lit over the past several years. If he can hit on his catch-and-shoot looks at a decent clip, he’ll force the issue at being a rotation piece. Even if they have to mask his defensive deficiencies.

The second half was also interesting in its own way. Stirtz was the sole starter who returned to the court. Alongside the Thunder two-way guys and Exhibit-10 additions, what was the result as he had the ball funneled into his hands? Pretty ugly, can’t lie. The Pelicans got back into it as OKC’s offense fell through the floor. But it was worth the experimentation while it lasted.

Alas, Stirtz’s awesome night ended prematurely. It looked like he had a gnarly-looking ankle sprain late in the game. The Thunder had to call a timeout. He gingerly walked off the floor and didn’t return. Let’s see what his status is for the remainder of preseason, but you certainly don’t want to push the problem.

Bennett goes back-to-back 👌 pic.twitter.com/Rkxb8otnIH

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) October 7, 2026

Lowering his head and upping his shoulders, Mitchell tried. He kept barreling into the paint. The drive-heavy scorer has turned into one of OKC’s best recent success stories because of his blue-collar playstyle. But against the Pelicans in this preseason opener, luck wasn’t on his side.

Mitchell finished with 11 points on 2-of-7 shooting, four assists and one rebound. He shot 1-of-2 from 3 and went 6-of-6 on free throws.

Even if his 50-50 attempts were mostly misses, you have to commend Mitchell for going at it. Considering their offseason moves, the Thunder are expecting huge things out of him. They’ve cleared the deck to let him be one of their top scorers. You saw some of the reasons why they believe that. Even with the ugly shooting percentages.

Mitchell kept attacking the Pelicans’ defense. He was rewarded with a busy night at the free-throw line. That’s the ultimate equalizer. If your shot isn’t falling, drawing contact is one way to affect the scoreboard. It’s also the secretive fourth level of scoring and the difference between good and great scorers.

Shouldn’t be a shocker, but Mitchell only played in the first half. I was honestly surprised to see him suit up, to be honest. Especially considering the laundry list of absences were closer to his talent level. You have to wonder if the Thunder tipped their hand a little about who the fifth starter will be. Surely it’s Cason Wallace’s to lose as he was in street clothes.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Thunder have fun 1st half in 116-110 preseason loss to Pelicans