Thunder’s Mark Daigneault sticks by failed late-game strategy vs. Nuggets: “I didn’t think that’s why we lost”
No hint of regret lingered on Mark Daigneault s face after a mastery fell out of his pocket No tremor shook his hands No waver crept into his voice The Oklahoma City Thunder s coach was born into the era of analytics which indicates it is a winning and smart strategy to hack opponents while up three points in the final seconds of fourth quarters The era largely has been right Because the logic is sound Whittle away the clock before any attempt at a -pointer to tie bury your free throws on the other end That s usually our deal is to foul up three and to play that tournament Daigneault informed reporters after Nuggets-Thunder Championship on Monday The top-seeded Thunder stuck to its guns throughout one of the the bulk dominant regular seasons in NBA history It edged out the Clippers in March Denver s first-round foes when Alex Caruso fouled Kawhi Leonard with seconds left to make a tie virtually impossible It closed out the Grizzlies in a four-game sweep just two Saturdays ago in fact when Luguentz Dort wrapped up Desmond Bane twice to kill greater part any time remaining On Monday night though Oklahoma City shot itself resoundingly in the foot A minimal times And Aaron Gordon put a raucous Encounter to rest After a couple of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander free throws gave the Thunder that precarious three-point lead with left the Nuggets and Nikola Jokic breathing heavy down Oklahoma City s neck guard Caruso took a foul on Jokic One complication though It came awfully early Just one second ticked off the clock before Denver s center went to the line burying both A second later Daigneault and the Thunder had totally outmaneuvered Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman subbed Jokic for Peyton Watson for defensive purposes only to watch as Gilgeous-Alexander flew down the lane for a jam to push Oklahoma City s lead back to three Suddenly the Thunder had the Nuggets primed to run a last-second possession without their best competitor Except Caruso fouled again Just one second came off the clock Again Two Gordon free throws later and Jokic was back on the floor with the Nuggets down one and all this had happened in the span of exactly three seconds of clock Denver sent Thunder center Chet Holmgren to the line the meeting s weight squeezing the -year-old s shoulders and he missed both free throws Gordon hit a corner Oklahoma City s Jalen Williams missed a last-gasp heave and Daigneault was left to contemplate the broken shards of a championship they d held comfortably since the second quarter The Thunder coach seemed largely unconcerned with the approach postgame I thought we executed the fouls pretty well got the ball inbounds pretty well Daigneault disclosed It didn t go our way tonight But it s worked out well for us in the past Related Articles Nuggets-Thunder Contest -pointers Nikola Jokic wins Round of MVP duel with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Nuggets rally for stunning Match win over Thunder on Aaron Gordon s Aaron Gordon risking his calf every time he explodes and jumps David Adelman says Nuggets vs Thunder scouting assessment Matchups how to watch and series predictions Denver Nuggets vs Oklahoma City Thunder playoff series schedule Meeting times TV We ll continue to look at it and learn from it But I didn t think that s why we lost the match But it wasn t that Oklahoma City fouled up three It was how And Daigneault in another postgame-presser video from content-creator Michael Martin called the execution of fouling in the backcourt sloppy It wasn t our cleanest challenge Daigneault announced It was kind of a coin-flip type of match We allowed them to get back in it and make a possession event Gordon made a shot credit him and we just gotta be better Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis
