Thunder HC Mark Daigneault pinpoints major issue behind loss to Cavaliers
Yesterday at 11:09 PM
The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers went head to head on Wednesday night in a historic regular season matchup. The Thunder came into the game on a 15-game win streak (excluding their NBA Cup final loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, which doesn’t count as a real game) and the Cavaliers came into the game on a 10-game win streak. This was the first matchup in NBA history of two teams on double-digit win streaks.
The Cavaliers got the better of the Thunder after a very entertaining back-and-forth affair, coming away with the 129-122 victory. Both offenses were humming throughout the game, and the Thunder’s no. 1-ranked defense wasn’t able to slow down the best offense in the NBA.
After the game, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault highlighted the biggest problem with his team’s performance in the rare loss, according to Nick Gallo of FanDuel Sports Network.
“Our issue tonight was defensive,” Daigneault said, per Gallo. “I thought we scored enough to win the game, but we just didn’t get enough stops against the team that you have to try to slow down.”
The stats certainly flesh out that problem. The Cavaliers shot 52.2% from the field in this game and knocked down 15 3-pointers. They also got to the free throw line 27 times, 10 more than Oklahoma City did, which ended up being a big difference.
Cleveland was able to generate that kind of production on offense despite an off night from Donovan Mitchell, who finished with just 11 points on 3-for-16 shooting. However, the Cavaliers finished with seven players in double figures to carry the offense in the win.
Should Thunder be worried after loss to Cavaliers?
The Thunder didn’t have their best night in Wednesday’s loss to the Cavaliers, but there’s no reason from Mark Daigneault and company to be worried. Oklahoma City will have better nights on the defensive end — it has proven as much — and that will carry it to many more wins throughout this season.
Even during an offensive performance that was pretty strong against a very good Cavaliers defense, the Thunder still have room to improve on that end of the floor. Daigneault’s club didn’t get to the free throw line as much as it usually does, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander only shot four free throws in this game, a shockingly low number for him.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished this game with 31 points, but he shot just 13-for-27 from the field and made one out of his six 3-pointers. That relative inefficiency in addition to the lack of free throw attempts leaves a ton of room for growth in the next meeting.
The Thunder won’t have to wait long for that rematch, which will come in eight days time back in Oklahoma City. If that game is anything like the first meeting, NBA fans are in for a treat in the second edition of this potential NBA Finals preview.
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