Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said his team controlled the game early and never let the Los Angeles Lakers settle in during Thursday’s 139-96 rout at Paycom Center.
“Yeah, obviously well,” Daigneault said when asked how his team rated out from the outset. “I thought Lu was really on it tonight. I thought Hart was really on it tonight. Thought Cason when he came in the game elevated our pressure.”
Daigneault said the Thunder’s first-half edge was built on details that showed up in the numbers. “There was a make-or-miss element to the first half especially,” he said. “The data would back that up. They had pretty good shots that they shot below expected, but I thought our energy on the offensive glass, our energy to run on the misses, and our pressure is what allowed us to capitalize on what was a poor shooting half for them.”
The Lakers needed nearly five minutes to make a field goal, and Daigneault said Oklahoma City’s defensive execution made that happen. “There’s shot variance every night,” he said. “That was a loud part of the first half of the game. We made shots, they did not. We want to be a team that capitalizes on it when we’ve got it going or the other team doesn’t.”
He added, “I thought we exerted some energy on the glass, like I said, in transition, that allowed us to build a lead and capitalize on the fact that we were shooting the ball well and they weren’t.”
Lu Dort’s opening burst was a major part of the start, and Daigneault was direct about his impact. “I think he obviously hasn’t shot the ball this year as well as he has in the past, but lately he’s come alive a little bit and then he really had the juice tonight defensively in the start of that game,” he said.
On Isaiah Joe, who scored 20 points in short order, Daigneault praised his versatility against a changing Lakers defense. “He was good,” Daigneault said. “They played a lot of zone tonight. In the third quarter they tried doubling the ball quite a bit, and he’s a threat in those situations especially.”
Daigneault also highlighted Jalen Williams’ imprint beyond scoring. “Just energy, intensity, motor,” he said. “His talent has overshadowed what is one of his most impactful skills, which is the fact that he just brings it the juice every single night competitively.”
Asked about Luka Doncic’s tough night before leaving with injury, Daigneault said Oklahoma City stayed committed to its plan. “We controlled what we could with him,” he said. “I thought we were tight in our coverages. We didn’t give them as a team anything easy.”
The Thunder improved to 61-16 and have now won 16 of their last 17, while the Lakers were left to regroup after one of the worst losses in franchise history.
