How Mark Daigneault, OKC Thunder are managing another lengthy break during NBA Playoffs

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2 days ago

Here they are again, waiting a week to try their hand at fate.
No one has grown more accustomed to this gnawing period between series quite like the Oklahoma City Thunder. Three times this postseason this crew has had roughly a week before its next series began. This time feels different, though.
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This is not the week it spent spinning in a swivel chair, waiting for which play-in opponent it would drop into the guillotine. These aren't quite like the days spent before the date with Denver. Since then, the Thunder has been emancipated from most questions of experience through its win over the Nuggets, and validated by its five-game thrashing of the Timberwolves.
This week, OKC can reflect on the hurdles that have it four wins away from an NBA title.
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Thunder coach Mark Daigneault yells to players in the first quarter during Game 5 of the Western Conference finals against the Timberwolves at Paycom Center on May 28.
'The most exciting thing about it is less about what exactly they're doing on the court,' coach Mark Daigneault said of his star trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams meeting the moment. 'It's really not much different from what they do. I mean, they're playing their game, but they're doing it on this stage, and every time you check those boxes and conquer those hurdles, so to speak, you get better and more confident or wiser if you fall short. So the experiences are what's best for all those guys.'
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A year ago, this core drowned in ambition. It was the youngest No. 1 seed ever, a foul away from pushing the eventual Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks to a seventh game. But the well of confidence did not seem so full.
Not when looking at the shots Williams and Holmgren passed on. When rewatching the way the team held up in crunch time situations. Things that've flipped this postseason.
The inflection points are clear. A Game 4 win in Denver. A Game 7 win over the Nuggets that put them away. The Game 3 bludgeoning that the Thunder took from the Wolves, sniffing real urgency like smelling salts. The Game 4 win in Minnesota in a bout with videogame shotmaking, when the group's resilience was tested most.
It might've been the Thunder's most prolific collective performance yet from its Big Three, with each of the trio making signature plays in a fourth quarter in which the Wolves dropped 41 points. That game helped them win the war.
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'That was an electric game that was going back and forth down the stretch, people making big plays on both ends,' Holmgren said of Game 4 of the West Finals. 'And it was really important for us to be able to do that and see what we can be in those moments. This year or going forward, we're going to be in situations like that again.'
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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) does a pushup after getting fouled during Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, May 28, 2025.
Credit Alex Caruso, a veteran and former champion who has inserted himself when necessary; he was as essential as any player not named SGA in the second round, doing everything from blowing up actions to denying Nikola Jokic. Or credit Isaiah Hartenstein, the bruiser last year's team never had, who's added lineup versatility and has set a tone physically.
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Most of all, credit time. It gave Holmgren and Williams the chance to grow into themselves, which at the time of writing, seems like two potentially terrifying playoff performers at the premature ages of 23 & 24. There's a balance in emotions they've wedged themselves into, being able to be mature enough for these series yet carry boyish exuberance.
'You don't want to be so wise that you're overcautious,' Daigneault said Saturday. 'You don't want to be so confident that you're overconfident. You kind of have to hold those two things, the confidence and the urgency or the wisdom. You have to hold those things in balance.'
The Thunder has time to do lots of thinking before Thursday's Game 1. Perhaps this squad will think about the games that launched it here. The situations it's conquered. It's not going into this week as blind as it thinks.
During this layoff, the Thunder knows what it takes.
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Joel Lorenzi covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joel? He can be reached at [e-mail] or on X/Twitter at @joelxlorenzi. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Joel's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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All times are Central Time (CT)
Game 1: Indiana/New York at OKC | 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 5 (ABC)
Game 2: Indiana/New York at OKC | 7:00 p.m. Sunday, June 8 (ABC)
Game 3: OKC at Indiana/New York | 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 11 (ABC)
Game 4: OKC at Indiana/New York | 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 13 (ABC)
Game 5 (If necessary): Indiana/New York at OKC | 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 16 (ABC)
Game 6 (If necessary): OKC at Indiana/New York | 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 19 (ABC)
Game 7 (If necessary): Indiana/New York at OKC | 7 p.m. Sunday, June 22 (ABC)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder again managing lengthy break in action during NBA Playoffs