NBA insider blames Mark Daigneault's coaching as OKC falls behind 2-1 against Nuggets
Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals between the OKC Thunder and Denver Nuggets turned into an instant classic Friday night. Denver dominated Mark Daigneault's Thunder in overtime to claim a 113-104 win and go up 2-1 in the series.
The Thunder had several opportunities to seal the win, leading by as many as nine behind strong efforts from Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. But according to Yahoo! Sports' Kevin O’Connor, Daigneault’s late-game decisions hurt OKC.
“I hate how Mark Daigneault has managed these end games for the Thunder,” O’Connor tweeted. “Blew Game 1 with the fouling strategy.
“And he should’ve called a timeout at the end of regulation in Game 3. Starting OT without Chet was awful too. And what was that weird challenge earlier in the 4th?”
In Game 1, OKC held a three-point lead late but opted to go with the "foul up three" strategy — a tactic designed to prevent a game-tying triple by sending opponents to the line.
However, it backfired due to poor execution, as OKC fouled almost immediately, and Denver capitalized with an Aaron Gordon 3-pointer to win it.
Then in Game 3, the Thunder had a shot to close it out in regulation, but Daigneault chose not to call a timeout, and the play resulted in a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander miss. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with just 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting.
To start overtime, Mark Daigneault subbed in Alex Caruso and left Chet Holmgren on the bench — a move that backfired as Denver exploited the paint and opened overtime on a run, ultimately outscoring OKC 11-2 to seal the win.
Mark Daigneault says Thunder are learning to meet the moment
After the game, Mark Daigneault spoke on the loss, framing it as a growth opportunity in OKC’s journey to becoming elite. His comments were shared by Thunder broadcaster Nick Gallo on X.
"We are in the process of becoming a great team, and we've checked a lot of boxes in that process, and one thing that it takes to be a great team is you get taken to the limit in the playoffs, and you've got a rise to the challenges that you're confronted with,” Daigneault said.
“This team's made a habit of doing that repeatedly. This is how you become stronger as a team, as you learn from these experiences, you stand up for them, and you improve and that's our challenge right now."
The Thunder now face a pivotal Game 4 at high altitude in Denver, with tipoff scheduled for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.