Tag: Josh Giddey

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst discusses Josh Giddey’s future with Thunder

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst discusses Josh Giddey’s future with the Thunder.

Once the offseason arrives, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be on the clock to make a difficult decision. Josh Giddey will be eligible for a contract extension, but the third-year guard has had an inconsistent season.

Adjusting to a new role, this season wasn’t pretty for Giddey at the start. As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams surpassed him on the totem pole, the 21-year-old shifted from a primary ball-handler to an off-ball fourth option.

Averaging career lows across the board and seeing his playing time dwindle, questions arose about Giddey’s long-term fit with the Thunder. He flipped a switch, however, and turned in his best month of the season in March.

In 15 games in March, Giddey averaged 16.3 points on 57% shooting, seven rebounds and 5.5 assists. He’s shot 41% from 3 and had a plus-13.5 plus-minus.

“Probably the first 50 or so games, I used to overthink everything,” Giddey said on his recent play. “A lot of the time when I touched the ball, I would think too much about what I’m doing. And it’s hard to play that way. It’s hard to play freely and comfortably when that’s what’s happening.”

Giddey opened up about his struggles, stating he hated going into a game knowing opposing defenses would sag off of him. Recently though, he’s changed his mindset toward that and tries to take advantage of mismatches.

It has worked wonders: The 21-year-old has been one of OKC’s best players these last few weeks. He finally looks like himself from the previous two seasons when he was thought of highly.

If Giddey can continue at this level in the playoffs, the odds of him working out an extension with the Thunder likely increase. If not, then he can get a deal elsewhere.

Before the Thunder’s loss to the Boston Celtics, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst shared his thought process about Giddey. The national media figure discussed what Giddey’s offseason plans could look like as he hopes to get a second contract locked up.

“This (recent stretch) is big for him,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s pregame show. “He’s due a contract extension at the end of the season. If it’s not in Oklahoma City, if he continues to play well at the end of this year, he can be a prime piece of trade bait as the Thunder look to upgrade their roster — especially with a big man this summer.”

How the Thunder handle Giddey’s extension talks will be the biggest story of the offseason for them. OKC is a couple of years away from having an expensive roster: Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams will also soon be eligible for extensions.

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Josh Giddey opens up about early season struggles, what’s clicked for him recently

Josh Giddey opens up about early season struggles, what’s clicked for him recently.

Adjusting to a new role this season wasn’t pretty for Josh Giddey at the start. As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams surpassed him on the totem pole, the 21-year-old was asked to shift from a primary ball-handler to an off-ball fourth option.

It was flat-out ugly at first. Opposing teams eventually adopted the strategy of sagging off Giddey and dare him to shoot from outside. It worked. The third-year player averaged career lows across the board for most of the season.

As the season progressed, Giddey regressed and saw his playing time dwindle. In crunch time, he was off the floor as the lack of attention from opposing defenses forced OKC to play with a man disadvantage in half-court sets.

Following the Oklahoma City Thunder’s dominating win over the Phoenix Suns, Giddey opened up about his struggles, mentioning how he’d toss and turn in bed at night before a game knowing the opponent was likely going to cross-match him.

“Probably the first 50 or so games, I used to overthink everything,” Giddey said on his recent play. “A lot of the time when I touched the ball, I would think too much about what I’m doing. And it’s hard to play that way. It’s hard to play freely and comfortably when that’s what’s happening. …

“I used to hate it. I used to dread coming into a game knowing a big was going to guard me. I used to think, ‘It’s another one of these nights where they’re gonna dare me to shoot it.’ I used to judge my game so much on if I made or missed 3s.”

After struggling with confidence, Giddey said he had several conversations with Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and recently experienced an epiphany. Instead of lamenting the defensive disrespect, he was going to use it to his advantage.

“Now I’ve kinda changed my mindset going into games where it’s like, if teams are going to leave me open, I’m going to punish them and I’m going to make them pay and make them change their defensive scheme,” Giddey said.

It’s worked like a charm. Suddenly, as the regular season winds down, Giddey has had the best stretch of the season and arguably his career over these last couple of weeks.

In 14 games in March, he’s averaged 16.3 points on 56.8% shooting, 6.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He’s shot 49% from 3 on 3.9 attempts.

If Giddey can carry this over to the playoffs, it suddenly makes the Thunder much more dangerous. Playoff teams likely hoped to take advantage of OKC’s weakest starter. Now, that vulnerability might no longer exist.

But the Thunder will deal with that when the time comes. For now, Giddey hopes to continue to build on the momentum he’s recently gathered.

“It’s easy to feel good when things are going well,” Giddey said. “But I think if you get caught up in the highs and the lows, it sends your emotions on a roller coaster.”

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Mark Daigneault praises Josh Giddey for recent string of games

Mark Daigneault praises Josh Giddey for recent string of games.

One of the biggest storylines involving the Oklahoma City Thunder this season has been the inconsistency of Josh Giddey. Throughout the season, he’s had rough stretches that have shortened his playing time.

The 21-year-old has been asked to make arguably the biggest role adjustment among the starters with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams blossoming into OKC’s top ballhandlers.

This has caused Giddey to have awkward stretches though he has found his stride these past four games. He’s averaged 13.3 points on 62.2% shooting, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists. He’s shot 45.5% from 3 on 2.8 attempts and is a plus-3.5 on his time on the court.

These are much better averages compared to his season stats, which have been among the lowest of his three-year career in most categories.

When asked about Giddey’s recent play, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault praised his string of games and cautioned it’s part of the ebbs and flows of a long regular season.

“He’s has had a great week. He’s really competing at a high level. I think his floor game has had great balance, he’s obviously playing with a lot of aggressiveness and confidence,” Daigneault said. “Players are in different seasons in their career.

“He’s having a small breakthrough right now with the way he is playing. Obviously, he’s had an up-and-down season, which is normal for any professional, especially one that is 21 years old and in his third year.

“I think some of the pop you are seeing right now is a result of some of the adversity or plateau that he’s had to overcome. I think it’s important to keep in mind with all of our players. They’re not going to be a perpetual linear ascent. It’s the NBA, it’s really hard and he’s the latest example of that.”

With a little over a month left before the regular season ends, the Thunder hope Giddey can keep this momentum going. Especially in the playoffs where opposing teams will likely target him on both ends of the floor.

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Player grades: Thunder dominate Wizards with 147-106 win

Player grades for the Thunder’s 147-106 win over the Wizards.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Receiving MVP chants at the free-throw line, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored his 30th point in the waning seconds of the third quarter as he sat out the final frame.

Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, no funny business was involved in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 147-106 win over the Washington Wizards.

“We just want to be a team that generates rhythm shots and open shots. I thought we did that tonight. We did that last night, we’ve done that for much of the year,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We’ve gotten more open 3’s than most teams in the league.”

The Thunder put up 41 points in the first quarter against one of the worst defensive teams in the league. OKC added to its lead with a 39-point second frame. At halftime, the Thunder led the Wizards, 80-57. It was the most points scored in the first half for OKC this season.

The 147 points in regulation is a season-high for the Thunder. The lowly Wizards continue to be in the race for the worst record in the league and have now lost 10 in a row.

The third quarter was much of the same story as the Thunder totaled 37 points to enter the final frame with an eye-popping 117 points and a 36-point lead.

Due to the lopsided score, the Thunder were afforded the luxury of resting their starters in the final frame. By the end of the period, OKC walked away with a 41-point win.

The Thunder shot an impressive 60% from the field and went 20-of-40 (50%) from 3. They dished out 30 assists on 55 baskets. Seven Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with a typical 30-point outing. He made easy work of the Wizards in his three quarters of work. Chet Holmgren also had one of his best-scoring games of the season, totaling 25 points and 10 rebounds.

“He’s just refining on the offensive end of the floor,” Daigneault said about Holmgren. “He’s shooting his catch-and-shoots with a lot of confidence right now, regardless of make or miss. He’s also getting his size into the game around the basket, especially against switches.”

Meanwhile, the lowly Wizards shot 39% from the field and went 9-of-38 (23.7%) from 3. They dished out 20 assists on 41 baskets. Five Wizards players scored double-digit points.

Jordan Poole had 21 points on 7-of-19 shooting, three assists and three rebounds. Corey Kispert totaled 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting and 3-of-7 from 3. Kyle Kuzma scored 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

The relatively low-stress win is exactly the type of outing OKC needed after its massive win over the LA Clippers on the previous night. The Thunder continue to rack up wins and are riding a four-game winning streak.

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: SGA, Jalen Williams total 65 points in Thunder’s 127-113 win over Magic

Player grades for the Thunder’s 127-113 win over the Magic.

Walking towards the perimeter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander suddenly made a quick turn and created enough space from Paolo Banchero with a mini-stepback to swish in the fading baseline jumper.

The All-Star starter then turned to the crowd and gestured for them to go home. The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the 2024 All-Star break on a high note after collecting a 127-113 win over the Orlando Magic.

“I thought it was a really focused effort, I thought the guys were really locked in,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault on the win. “After the start, (it) wasn’t great, other than that, stuck to the gameplan, hung in there through a couple of runs.”

After trailing by as many as 11 points in the opening frame, OKC cut it down to a one-point deficit following the first quarter.

The Thunder scored 29 points in the second frame to enter halftime with a 60-52 lead. OKC’s reserves did an excellent job surviving Gilgeous-Alexander’s first-half struggles.

Then in the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander turned it up and led the Thunder to a 32-point frame by accounting for 15 of those points. OKC entered the final frame with a 92-82 lead.

With Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench, the Thunder went on a massive 19-8 run in the final frame to build a double-digit lead. By the time Gilgeous-Alexander checked back in, OKC held a 16-point lead with a little over six minutes left.

After leading by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter, Orlando went on a 14-4 run in the final minutes to cut OKC’s lead to as little as 11 points, but alas, there wasn’t enough time to make a serious push.

Jalen Williams headlined the Thunder’s 35-point final frame. He scored an eye-popping 17 points in 10 minutes with slices to the basket as Orlando struggled to limit him.

Overall, the Thunder shot 55% from the field and went 13-of-32 (40.6%) from 3. They went a nearly perfect 22-of-24 from the free-throw line. They dished out 28 assists on 46 baskets.

This was an impressive offensive showing considering the Magic have the fourth-best defensive rating in the league. OKC got plenty of quality looks and looked in rhythm for the entire contest.

The duo of Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams once again led the way for OKC with 65 combined points on 55% shooting — Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and five assists and Williams had 33 points on 18 shots.

Chet Holmgren also contributed with 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.

Meanwhile, the Magic shot 45% from the field and went 11-of-36 (30.6%) from 3. They went 20-of-25 from the free-throw line. They had 29 assists on 41 baskets.

Banchero had 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, 10 assists and six rebounds. Wendell Carter Jr. had 22 points and six rebounds. Jalen Suggs scored 17 points and shot 4-of-12 from 3. Franz Wagner was limited to 15 points on 16 shots.

The Thunder enter their week-plus long break with an impressive road win over a hot Magic squad that had won five of their last six contests entering tip.

OKC managed to play spoiler for Shaq’s jersey retirement ceremony and enter the All-Star break a clean 20 games above .500, which is the fifth time it’s happened in franchise history.

“I thought we ran through the finish line with these last two games,” Daigneault said. “That was evident tonight. Now got to take a deep breath, put some gas back in the tank and get ready for the stretch.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Mark Daigneault talks Josh Giddey’s struggles, adjusting to how defenses guard him

Mark Daigneault talks Josh Giddey’s struggles, adjusting to how defenses guard him.

An underlying problem that’s spanned the entire season has been how opposing defenses have defended Josh Giddey.

The 21-year-old has been forced to play more off-ball as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams have emerged as OKC’s lead ballhandlers. This has caused the Thunder to be more creative with how they utilize Giddey considering he profiles as a primary ballhandler.

The outside shooting has always been a struggle for the third-year guard. He’s a 30.4% 3-point shooter on 3.3 attempts for his career. These types of numbers allow teams to sag off of Giddey, essentially forcing OKC to play with a man disadvantage in half-court sets.

This was painfully visible in the Thunder’s 35-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. The Mavericks elected to ignore Giddey and let him shoot as many corner 3-pointers as he wanted, which resulted in a 3-of-9 performance from deep with several bad misses highlighted by Dallas’ mic’d rims.

The sag-off strategy continues to pay off for opposing teams. Giddey is shooting 49-of-140 (35%) on wide-open shots where the nearest defender was six-plus feet away from him.

From the corners, Giddey is shooting 22-of-62 (35.5%) from 3 this season. A pretty low percentage that teams will live with.

According to Cleaning The Glass, Giddey is ranked in the 35th percentile among forwards for corner 3-point shooting and 30th percentile in 3-point shooting.

Expect the Thunder to be defended in a similar style in the playoffs. Teams will harp onto OKC’s biggest weaknesses to exploit matchup problems and right now that’s headlined by Giddey.

When asked about how opposing defenses have defended Giddey, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on Sunday that they continue to encourage him to take the open shots.

“If he gets played like that, he’s gonna get five wide-open shots. … Regardless of how else he plays. Getting them in the corner is a good thing for any player,” Daigneault said. “Whether it’s a higher-percentage shot, which it is for most guys. I think having a diversity of attacks is important so that you’re not relying solely on one thing and the opponent is only having to account for one thing.

“So using him as a screener, which we got to a little bit yesterday, to rolling is one way to do that. Using him as a cutter was another way to get a baseline cut last night, offensive rebounding out of that spot.

“It’s important I think the more activity he can play with, the better off he’ll be. Even playing like that, he’s going to find five open shots. … It’s a conversation that’s been ongoing. As a team, it’s not something we shy away from. It’s obviously something teams have deployed against us. We have to continue to figure out the best way to improve through it.”

The Thunder have had success despite this for the majority of the season, but the occasional loss usually brings this lingering problem to the forefront of people’s minds. It’s been a rough season for Giddey as he awkwardly tries to fit into a new role among the starters.

It hasn’t been pretty as he’s averaged career lows across the board, including a career-low 25 minutes per game, which includes him being benched during several clutch situations.

The Thunder quickly need to figure out the best ways to scheme out how opposing teams guard Giddey if they’re hoping for a deep playoff run. What happened against the Mavericks will only hurt OKC if it carries over to the postseason.

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Player grades: Thunder suffer 146-111 blowout loss to Mavericks

Player grades for the Thunder’s 146-111 loss to the Mavericks.

DALLAS — Stationed in the corner, Josh Giddey received the ball and shot a corner 3-point attempt with ample space. This same sequence transpired often as Dallas welcomed the attempts. Several of his looks resulted in a resounding ‘clank’ with the mic’d rims.

The Oklahoma City Thunder never looked comfortable in their 146-111 blowout loss to the Dallas Mavericks. OKC trailed the entire way in its worst defeat of the season.

“They shot it well early, but that’s where some of the transition — like straight-up fastbreak plays — really hurt you,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said on the loss. “Because when you’re giving up easy ones and they’re making shots, then that’s how the 47 (points) can happen in the first quarter… They were clearly the better team today.”

The Mavericks quickly built a 20-7 lead in the opening minutes. Multiple timeouts didn’t solve the issue as OKC trailed, 47-30, following the first quarter.

The Thunder managed to eat into the deficit with a 32-point second frame. At halftime, OKC miraculously only trailed by nine points to Dallas, 71-62.

But any hopes of a comeback were quickly evaporated in the third quarter though, as the Mavericks scored 39 points to enter the final frame leading by 21 points. After three quarters, Dallas’ high-octane offense totaled 110 points.

It wasn’t OKC’s best day on offense as it shot 39% from the field and went 17-of-47 (36.2%). Only four Thunder players scored double-digit points and none of the starters exceeded 29 minutes in this blowout loss.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 25 points but didn’t see action in the final frame as the outcome was already decided. Chet Holmgren had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks welcomed their new additions with one of their best offensive outings of the season. Everything was clicking for Dallas as it eerily looked like Lob City with highlight dunk after highlight dunk.

Overall, the Mavericks shot a ridiculous 58% from the field and went a red-hot 15-of-38 (39.5%) from 3. They also went 25-of-33 from the free-throw line. Dallas made it look easy as OKC had no answer to stopping it.

The Mavericks’ star duo led the way for them in the lopsided contest. Luke Doncic finished with 32 points, nine assists and eight rebounds; Kyrie Irving totaled 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

The newest members of the Mavericks also had excellent first impressions. Off the bench, Daniel Gafford had 19 points and nine rebounds while P.J. Washington tallied 14 points and five rebounds.

“They were just the better team tonight, from start to finish,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Just chalk it up to that. They played better, played harder, more sense of urgency. They deserved to win.”

After a rare three-day break, the Thunder looked out of sorts in this one-sided affair. OKC will need to quickly move on from this loss and prepare to play the Sacramento Kings on the second day of this road-and-home back-to-back.

“They just had a little more juice today,” Daigneault said. “Which is a bit uncharacteristic for us, we’re over 50 games in here and we’ve had only a handful of games where you can say that about us.

“We can’t overreact to it. We certainly have to learn from it. We don’t want to be happy with it or content with it or numb to it either. We also need to be able to put in perspective.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

The argument for, against Thunder trading away Josh Giddey

The argument for, against Thunder trading away Josh Giddey.

The Oklahoma City Thunder enter the 2024 NBA trade deadline as buyers for the first time in several years. The Thunder (35-16) will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

More importantly, it’ll be the first playoff trip for OKC’s young core. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has blossomed into an MVP candidate. The emergence of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren has created one of the best trios in the league. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has turned into one of the best head coaches in the league.

Even though OKC is fighting for first place, the elephant in the room in its successful season has been Josh Giddey.

The 21-year-old has struggled through his worst season yet, averaging career lows in both traditional stats and advanced metrics. In several stretches of the season, he has sat out crunch time and played few minutes due to opposing defenses ignoring him.

It has made for an awkward situation. The Thunder have to overcome his deficiencies, and Giddey is put in a bad spot where his strengths as a ball-handler aren’t being utilized.

Off the court, Giddey has also dealt with investigations by California police and the NBA regarding allegations of being in an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl.

The Newport Beach Police closed their investigation due to a lack of evidence. The NBA is still conducting its own.

There are strong arguments to be made on both sides related to whether the Thunder should cut ties with Giddey and move him by the trade deadline. Let’s examine both sides and make a final decision on what they should do with the third-year guard.

2024 NBA trade deadline: Feb. 7 OKC Thunder rumor updates

2024 NBA trade deadline: Feb. 7 OKC Thunder rumor updates.

The NBA trade deadline is a little over a day away, which means the Oklahoma City Thunder could soon welcome new additions to their roster.

The Thunder (35-16) are tied for the first seed as the All-Star break approaches. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played like an MVP candidate; Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams help carve out an impressive trio.

The Thunder likely won’t make any drastic moves by Feb. 8. If OKC makes a deal, it’ll likely be to strengthen its depth and help fix some of its rebounding woes.

Entering the deadline, the Thunder are wealthy in trade capital — they have several young prospects they could trade and a rich supply of draft picks.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 7 — with the trade deadline a little over 24 hours away — let’s round up recent rumors related to the Thunder.

Player grades: Thunder complete 23-point comeback in 135-127 2OT win over Raptors

Player grades for the Thunder’s 135-127 2OT win over the Raptors.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Catching the ball, Aaron Wiggins drained in a corner 3-pointer to give OKC a seven-point lead with less than two minutes left. The 3-point shot served as the dagger after 58 minutes of intense basketball.

The Oklahoma City Thunder completed the 23-point comeback in their 135-127 double-overtime win over the Toronto Raptors. The Thunder have now won three in a row.

“That was a great game for us,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “Credit them, their game plan, they made us uncomfortable in the first half. You never know how a team’s going to play you, so it took us obviously a little bit to calibrate that.

It looked ugly early on for the Thunder. After the first quarter, OKC trailed Toronto, 33-23. A 30-point second frame made the issue worse as the Raptors entered halftime with a 63-47 lead.

“The way they started the game, I thought they were just on the gas,” Daigneault said. “They played with way more force than we did on both ends of the floor and had us on our heels for much of the first half.”

The beginning of the second half was much of the same issues for the Thunder as the Raptors quickly built a 23-point lead. It didn’t take until around halfway through the third frame before OKC began its climb back up.

A 34-point third quarter saw the Thunder enter the final frame shaving their deficit to 87-81. OKC eventually erased its deficit less than four minutes into the quarter and tied it up at 91 apiece.

From that point on in the final frame, neither team led by more than three points. Trailing by two with 27 seconds left, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed his patent mid-range jumper but the ball ricocheted near the sidelines, where a diving RJ Barrett landed on the ball out of bounds.

This gave the Thunder another golden chance to tie it in the final seconds and Josh Giddey found a cutting Aaron Wiggins for the game-tying layup on the inbound pass with four seconds left.

In the first overtime, Gilgeous-Alexander redeemed himself with a game-tying stepback 3-pointer to tie it up at 118 apiece. He blocked Gary Trent Jr.’s attempt at a game-winner and forced a rare second overtime.

In the second OT, the 3-pointers started falling for OKC. It hit three 3-pointers to start the second five-minute period capped off by Wiggins’ aforementioned 3-pointer.

Giddey completed an impressive and-one and Gilgeous-Alexander soared for the dunk to hit the exclamation marks of the Thunder’s comeback win.

It was a historic offensive outing for the Thunder. They shot 47% from the field and went 23-of-63 (36.5%) from 3 — the 23 made outside shots tied a franchise record. OKC needed the hot night from 3 as it only went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

The Thunder had five players score 20-plus points. This was only the third time in franchise history they’ve reached this mark.

Gilgeous-Alexander had a near triple-double of 23 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds. Chet Holmgren contributed with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists.

After a rough start, a pair of Thunder starters played key roles in OKC’s second-half comeback — Giddey had one of his best outings yet with 24 points, six assists and six rebounds. Lu Dort had 22 points and seven rebounds.

Off the bench, Aaron Wiggins saw his role increase as the game progressed and totaled 20 points. His contributions were more valuable once OKC lost starter Cason Wallace to a shoulder injury in the second half.

“It was a gutsy win for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “What we brought in the second half was needed.”

Meanwhile, the Raptors shot 48% from the field and went 14-of-35 (40%) from 3. They went 17-of-21 from the free-throw line. Six players scored double-digit points.

Barrett — who was questionable with knee swelling — led Toronto with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting and seven rebounds. Scottie Barnes totaled 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Jakob Poeltl had a 19-point and 12-rebound double-double.

Immanuel Quickley had 17 points and 11 assists while Dennis Schroder had 19 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Raptors.

The Thunder survived their lengthiest game of the season with a thrilling win against the struggling Raptors. Overcoming a 23-point deficit is nothing to sneeze at and OKC’s resilience to come out of halftime and have a strong finish is one of the major qualities why they’re off to their best start following 50 games in nearly a decade.

“The chemistry of the team is real,” Daigneault said. “As the game gets harder, they tend to connect more and problem-solve together and I thought tonight was a great example of that.

“The game was not going our way on either end. Easy to pack it in, point fingers, try to do it ourselves. We did quite the opposite coming out of halftime.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.