The league-best 68-14 Oklahoma City Thunder find themselves in a pickle against the Denver Nuggets and head coach Mark Daigneault’s blunders in the clutch are among the reasons they’re in this position.
Now trailing 2-1 in the series after a tense, 113-104 overtime loss in Game 3, the Thunder are forced to play with some desperation in Game 4.
Among the 293 to teams take a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series, only 13 have have failed to win.
But should the Thunder be faced with this predicament in the first place? They led by 13 with under seven minutes remaining in Game 1. They also led by three with under a minute remaining in regulation with possession of the ball in Game 3. Ending up on the losing side of both scenarios is not reflective of a 68-win team.
MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should shoulder a sizable chunk of the blame in Game 3 for an underwhelming performance. The league’s leading scorer finished with just 18 points on 22 field goal attempts and only got to the free-throw line five times.
Some of the tactical decisions in both Game 1 and Game 3, though, stick out like a sore thumb.
What Was Daigneault’s Game 1 Blunder?
The most bizarre aspect of the Game 1 loss was how early in the clock the Thunder committed to fouling the Nuggets to prevent a 3-point attempt.
The first scenario was when Denver was coming out of a timeout trailing 117-114 with 13.9 seconds remaining. Alex Caruso committed an intentional foul on Nikola Jokic 35 feet away from the basket with only a second coming off the clock.
Shortly after Jokic made both free throws, the Thunder inbounded to Gilgeous-Alexander and he had a clear path to the basket. He dunked the ball with only 1.8 seconds coming off the clock when he easily could have killed off another three our four seconds. As an 89 percent free-throw shooter, it wasn’t much of a gamble.
Then came the worst mistake of all. The biggest benefit that emerged from Gilgeous-Alexander scoring before getting fouled was Jokic was off the court and couldn’t check back in. Christian Braun inbounded with 11.1 seconds to Aaron Gordon, who Caruso fouled with just 0.4 seconds coming off the clock.
So, in effect, Denver was able to score four points in 2.2 seconds, despite not having any timeouts remaining. The Nuggets’ biggest enemy in this moment was the clock and Oklahoma City’s early foul strategy made it their friend.
Now, there were 9.5 seconds remaining when Chet Holmgren went to the line instead of what should have been fewer than five. It took five seconds from Holmgren’s second missed free throw to Gordon’s release for the game-winning three.
Remember, this was a Denver team coming off an exhausting seven-game series against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Thunder had a week off and had every reason to be the team that finished stronger. They couldn’t find one of them.
What Was Daigneault’s Game 3 Blunder?
Coming down the stretch of this one, the Nuggets increasingly looked a team showing championship pedigree and poise. Meanwhile, the Thunder were getting increasingly bogged down on the offensive end and showing a lack of verve.
Daigneault had two timeouts and both carried over unused into overtime.
There was an opportunity with under 50 seconds remaining and the Thunder up three holding possession he let pass. Then, there was another when Oklahoma City was holding for the final shot with the game tied.
Gilgeous-Alexander had become increasingly focused on generating offense on his own down the stretch. He could have at the very least used a reminder Jalen Williams was having a tremendous game and had 16 fourth-quarter points.
If that wasn’t enough, Daigneault also inexplicably chose to start the overtime frame with Holmgren on the bench. He missed the first 90 seconds, which the Nuggets used to go up five.
Can Daigneault Rise To The Occasion Moving Forward?
Oklahoma City has actually played well enough to lead this series 3-0. There are certainly other facets of the game the players have to hold themselves accountable to. Daigneault embraced that reality post-game.
At the end of the day, none of these “boxes” would be under a magnifying glass if Daigneault hadn’t made these clear blunders. There is a level of urgency required in the playoffs he hasn’t quite shown yet.
It’s one thing to be cool and calm in the face of adversity but it’s entirely another to be oblivious to it.
If the Thunder are going to bounce back in this series, Daigneault has to show he can rise to the occasion.