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 preeminence 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 suggests 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 battle Daigneault stated reporters after Nuggets-Thunder Competition on Monday The top-seeded Thunder stuck to its guns throughout one of the majority of 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 majority any time remaining On Monday night though Oklahoma City shot itself resoundingly in the foot A sparse times And Aaron Gordon put a raucous Event 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 obstacle 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 completely 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 member 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 contest 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 explained It didn t go our way tonight But it s worked out well for us in the past Related Articles PHOTOS Denver Nuggets steal Event from Oklahoma City Thunder - in NBA Playoffs round two Nuggets-Thunder Contest -pointers Nikola Jokic wins Round of MVP duel with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Nuggets rally for stunning Contest 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 analysis Matchups how to watch and series predictions We ll continue to look at it and learn from it But I didn t think that s why we lost the encounter 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 encounter Daigneault commented It was kind of a coin-flip type of match We allowed them to get back in it and make a possession meeting 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