Mark Daigneault said Oklahoma City needed a short adjustment period before taking control of its 123-87 win over the Lakers on Tuesday night, but once the Thunder settled in, the game turned quickly.
“When there’s a team out there that you’re not used to seeing, you got to calibrate a little bit just how they’re going to play, how they’re going to attack,” he said.
Daigneault said the Lakers’ early zone looks and their use of Drew Timme changed the flow at first. “They played a lot of zone early that switched to man-to-man and they’re playing through Timme quite a bit early and so it took us a minute,” he said, adding that Oklahoma City found its footing after the opening stretch.
The Thunder coach pointed to the group that finished the first half as the turning point. “I think it was tied at 42 at one point and then the group that finished the first half did a really good job of stringing together stops and quality possessions on offense gave us a cushion at halftime and then we continued that in the second half,” Daigneault said.
That response fit the way he described Oklahoma City’s offense overall. “A lot of the game is that, you know, miss basket. You’re coming down, you’re usually just playing and then sometimes you don’t gain an advantage with whatever you’re trying to do in your first action and you’ve got to be able to try to generate an advantage somewhat randomly,” he said. “The guys have done a great job with it.”
Daigneault also said the Thunder’s lineup decisions remain flexible, but not chaotic. “We don’t want to just be, you know, we want to thread the needle of the guys having some consistency and rhythm and also having to be able to adapt and be fluid,” he said.
He singled out Isaiah Joe for the kind of in-game adjustment that helped Oklahoma City separate. “A guy’s got it going like Isaiah Joe had it going tonight, you know, so you extend him a little bit more,” Daigneault said. “We just want to be a team that, you know, when we make those decisions, the team can kind of dance with us on those things.”
Daigneault also praised Alex Caruso’s influence, calling him “the man” and “invaluable to us.” On officiating, he said Caruso’s approach stands out because “he’s always respectful,” adding that “they give you a good amount of leeway” when a player “stays non-personal” and “stays on the plays.”
The Thunder coach closed by saying the team is not looking ahead. “We can’t pursue a title tonight,” Daigneault said. “All we could do tonight was play against the Lakers,” and “tomorrow all we can do is play against the Clippers.”
