"Mark Daigneault fixed the garage door that wasn't broken" - Zach Lowe says Thunder coach overthought by changing the starting lineup for Game 1

Yahoo

a day ago

"Mark Daigneault fixed the garage door that wasn't broken" - Zach Lowe says Thunder coach overthought by changing the starting lineup for Game 1 originally appeared on Basketball Network.
As talking heads analyzed Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals, one thing that baffled them was Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault's change in his starting lineup.
Advertisement
Their issue was why Daigneault would change his lineup before Game 1 of the Finals when it has worked for them in the first three rounds of the playoffs. The Ringer's Zach Lowe believes that the Thunder's long break after the Western Conference Finals made the 2024 NBA Coach of the Year winner overthink about the Indiana Pacers' smaller starting lineup and that he wanted to fix something that wasn't broken in the first place.
"It's like when my wife asked me to fix the garage door and I tried it, and made it worse. And I had to call the garage door company, 'Hey, my door's crooked and stuck now.' That's what Mark Daigneault did. Mark Daigneault tried to fix the garage door that was broken," said Lowe.
The Pacers lorded over the boards and scored 32 second-chance points
In Oklahoma City's first 16 games of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, Daigneault started Isaiah Hartenstein alongside Chet Holmgren for a two-big frontcourt. Hartenstein has played well in the postseason, averaging 9.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game for the Thunder.
Advertisement
However, in Game 1, the Thunder head coach awarded Cason Wallace his first-ever playoff start because he wanted to match up with Indiana's smaller and perimeter-deadly first five. Wallace proved to be a reliable starter, making 43 starts this season while averaging 8.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.8 steals per game in those outings.
But the Thunder ended up getting outrebounded 39-56, giving up 13 offensive boards and allowing the Pacers to score a total of 32 second-chance points in the game. Not only that, Daigneault's decision to go small backfired in their final possession when it was Aaron Nesmith who grabbed the rebound off a miss by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with both Holmgren and Hartenstein on the bench. Nesmith gave the ball to Pascal Siakam, who passed it to Obi Toppin, who was smart enough to hand it over to Tyrese Haliburton. We know what happened next.
Related: Shaquille O'Neal reveals which two dunks in his NBA career are his favorite: "He was all over me, and I was like, 'Get the fu** off me'"
Dray said it's wrong to make adjustments before the series has even started
Like Lowe, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green also did not like the Thunder's starting lineup change. The 2017 NBA DPOY winner said a team should go to war with its tried and tested unit and that a coach should not make changes unless the strategy isn't working. Especially when it is a series opener.
Advertisement
"You made your adjustment before the series started," said Green. "You go to Game 1; you roll with what you know. You roll with what you do. You ride with that. You don't lay your trump card before the series starts. You go two games with your starting lineup before, like… you won 68 games."
In Daigneault's defense, the starting unit he used in Game 1 was his most used and winningest opening five during the regular season, with a record of 18-4.
Dray does have a point — the Thunder stuck with one starting lineup throughout the playoffs, and it carried them to the Finals without a hitch. So why switch it up for Game 1? Maybe, as Lowe suggested, Mark just overthought things during the extended break.
Related: Nikola Vucevic on the defensive greatness of Alex Caruso: "It is a luxury to have that type of player"
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 7, 2025, where it first appeared.