The Oklahoma City Thunder needed a response after dropping Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, and head coach Mark Daigneault said he expected one long before Wednesday’s 122-113 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
“I had a quiet confidence about that,” Daigneault said after Game 2 when asked about . “I didn’t know if we’d win or lose the game, but I was pretty sure after watching Game 1 and knowing our team that we were going to come out and play better tonight.”
Oklahoma City did exactly that behind 30 points and nine assists from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who bounced back after a quieter opener in the series. The Thunder also received major production from their bench, finishing with a 57-25 advantage in reserve scoring while forcing 21 Spurs turnovers.
Daigneault pointed to the Thunder’s offensive rhythm as the biggest difference between Games 1 and 2.
“We’re a lot better obviously,” Daigneault said. “I thought some of that was just us playing better. We just didn’t play a great game the other night.”
“I just thought the overall flow tonight, rhythm was really good. Put everybody at advantages. We had our foot on the gas. It was a real positive game in that respect.”
The Thunder finished with 34 assists against only nine turnovers, a major improvement after struggling offensively in the series opener. Gilgeous-Alexander benefited from cleaner spacing and better tempo throughout the night.
“I thought globally if our offense was better, everybody would benefit from that,” Daigneault said. “I thought he benefited from that tonight.”
The coach also made a notable adjustment defensively by starting Isaiah Hartenstein on Victor Wembanyama after the center logged only 12 minutes in Game 1. Hartenstein responded with 10 points and 13 rebounds while helping Oklahoma City limit San Antonio’s interior efficiency during key stretches.
Daigneault admitted Game 1’s rotation did not sit well with him afterward.
“One thing that doesn’t feel good is playing Hart 12 minutes,” he said. “It just didn’t feel good to me.”
The Thunder coach praised Hartenstein’s professionalism after accepting the reduced role earlier in the series.
“I grabbed him yesterday to tell him he was starting, tell him he was starting on Wembanyama so that he would go to bed last night with that in mind,” Daigneault said. “And he said, ‘I’ll do whatever the team needs me to do.’”
Daigneault later expanded on why Hartenstein remains so valuable to Oklahoma City’s system.
“He’s a big-time competitor. He’s a big-time team guy,” Daigneault said. “He’d rather get an assist than score a point.”
“If you listed all the skills you wanted for a modern center, like true center, he checks every box.”
Wembanyama still produced 21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocks, but Oklahoma City’s pressure disrupted San Antonio’s offensive flow. The Thunder recorded 14 steals and turned those takeaways into a 27-10 edge in points off turnovers.
Daigneault credited Oklahoma City’s defensive process rather than gambling for steals.
“We never talk about not turning it over on offense,” he said. “We just try to keep it on fundamentals and on process and we just trust that if we do that, we’ll get more shots and better shots than our opponent on most nights.”
The win evened the series at 1-1 heading into Game 3 on Friday in San Antonio, though injuries now loom over both teams. Jalen Williams exited early for Oklahoma City with hamstring tightness, while Spurs guard Dylan Harper suffered a right leg injury.
Daigneault declined to speculate on Williams’ status.
“He’ll get checked out in the morning,” Daigneault said. “We’ll see where he’s at. We’ll update accordingly.”
