Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault offered candid insights following Friday night’s 112-107 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. “Credit them. Great crowd, great night. I thought they played really well,” Daigneault said, praising the Timberwolves’ effort.
On Minnesota’s size and length advantage, Daigneault said, “We’ll watch it. I think, you know, some times we’re leaning into that and we’re going a little smaller and that’s kind of the cost of doing business. You get a little more space on offense, a little more speed on the court, and you give up some length. Some of those might be lineup decisions and then there are other ones that we could probably control.”
Daigneault also discussed his team’s late-game fight, highlighting the Thunder’s competitiveness despite the outcome. “I mean we put ourselves in a nice position late. We had a lead going into the closing possessions and then they just made a couple more plays than we did, but it was a close game. It could have gone either way,” he said. He emphasized the importance of learning from both wins and losses: “We’ve played a lot of these games this season. We’ve won a lot of them. We want to learn through the wins, and we have to learn through the losses.”
Daigneault explained a key rotation decision in the third quarter involving Isaiah Joe. “A couple things. Foul trouble with Holmgren. Holmgren had three, so we were trying to manage that a little bit. We’re still bringing Hart back off an injury, so that had a little bit to do with his rotations tonight. Isaiah played well in the first half, so we decided to give that a role. We were planning on subbing quick anyways, but that was what went into the decision.”
The Thunder fell behind in the fourth quarter after Anthony Edwards returned from injury to score 26 points and grab 12 rebounds, including a clutch 3-pointer with 38.5 seconds left to secure Minnesota’s 112-107 win. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 35 points and seven assists, but the defending champions were unable to convert in the closing moments despite a strong fight down the stretch.
Daigneault concluded, “It’s a game that was a single possession game most of the stretch, and it comes down to execution and I thought they made one more play than we did.” The Thunder drop to 25-3 and will host the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, while Minnesota improves to 18-10 and hosts the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday.
