Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault addressed the media Monday night following a narrow 121-119 loss to the Denver Nuggets, placing the blame squarely on himself for the team’s late-game mistakes.
Daigneault specifically cited a decision to foul up three points in the final seconds, explaining that the timing of the foul was poorly executed under his direction.
“The fouling up three, that’s on me,” Daigneault said. “Giving it too early is probably the takeaway there, but that’s not on the players. They’re executing what I’m telling them to do.”
The Thunder led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter before Denver stormed back behind Nikola Jokic’s 42-point effort.
Daigneault pointed to a combination of defensive lapses and rebounding struggles as key factors in surrendering the lead.
“Execution on both ends of the floor,” he said. “They had a lot of offensive rebounds tonight, gave them second life. And our execution down the stretch offensively—we can be better.”
Oklahoma City surrendered 22 offensive rebounds and allowed 36 fourth-quarter points as the Nuggets took control late.
Daigneault acknowledged the difficulty of losing Game 1 at home but stressed the need to embrace playoff adversity.
“It’s the playoffs,” he said. “We have to embrace the struggle. We kind of coasted through the first round, but no one just walks through a series at this point.”
Jokic drew his fifth foul midway through the fourth on a flagrant, but the Thunder were unable to exploit the situation effectively.
“We certainly tried to go at him,” Daigneault explained. “But you can get teams into a defensive rhythm if you’re at them every single possession.”
Chet Holmgren missed two critical free throws late and then contested Aaron Gordon’s game-winning three, which Daigneault addressed with perspective.
“We talk going into the playoffs about the ups and downs of a series,” he said. “Hopefully the guys apply that framework when they lay on the pillow tonight.”
Despite the loss, Daigneault praised Alex Caruso’s performance off the bench, calling him “a gamer” who sparked the team’s momentum in the first half.
“He knows the plan, guards different guys, executes,” he said. “I thought he played great on offense tonight.”
Daigneault also emphasized the importance of improving dead-ball offense and getting better stops to prevent late-game stagnation.
“When we’re not getting stops, we’re taking the ball out and facing a dead floor,” he said. “A few more stops help us there.”
With Game 2 set for Wednesday in Oklahoma City, Daigneault said the Thunder would stick to their process and focus on executing better next time.
“It’s a series—first to four,” he said. “We need to be the better team in Game 2.”
