Daigneault: We’re a better team now than the start of Nuggets series

Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder coach Mark Daigneault paid tribute to the expansion of his workforce through the playoff collection with the Denver Nuggets as they went 3-2 up on Tuesday.

The Thunder staged a fourth-quarter comeback to win 112-105 and go inside one sport of advancing and Daigneault was happy with the enhancements his workforce has made, in addition to piling on reward for star man Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

“I thought he got more and more composed as the game went on,” he mentioned.

“Even supposing the strain was mounting, and it obtained hotter in there, he obtained cooler and simply settled into it, made the suitable performs and let the sport inform him what to do. 

“We’re a better team today than we were at the beginning of the series. We’re definitely evolving and growing and learning.”

Gilgeous-Alexander completed with 31 factors, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, marking the seventh 30-point sport of his profession within the playoffs.

Of their comeback victory, by which they outscored the Nuggets 34-19 within the fourth quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander acknowledged that that they had left themselves nowhere else to go.

“We had no choice. The game obviously wasn’t going our way. But we always say the answer is never a hero play or anything out of the ordinary,” he mentioned.

“It’s being who we are. It’s trusting each other, playing with all five on both ends. Whatever the problem is, we can fix it with the collective effort.”

Previous to the Thunder’s late present, Nikola Jokic had been at his good finest, top-scoring with 44 factors alongside his 15 rebounds and 5 assists.

Although the Nuggets star couldn’t do all of it himself and the victory for Gilgeous-Alexander was one over the person he completed second to within the MVP voting final season.

“I think above all, he’s very smart,” Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned of Jokic. “I feel that is what offers him his edge. He is very good. He is all the time manipulating issues.

“He’s always thinking plays ahead. He’s reading defenses, offenses. His intelligence is very high up there, and he’s always using it.”

WHAT A GAME pic.twitter.com/KRpqzuCFBF

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 14, 2025

The Thunder’s comeback started in earnest when defensive specialist Lu Dort hit three consecutive three-pointers, having earlier missed his first three.

“Honestly… I put a lot of work in,” mentioned Dort. “I work on those type of shots. I’ve been in those situations before I been to work, so you know I just got to keep believing in myself. My teammates have my back all the time.”

Nuggets coach David Adelman, in the meantime, additionally highlighted the contribution of Dort.

“Give Lu Dort a lot of credit. We had a chance to, I wouldn’t say, blow the game over and out, but we had a chance. When he made those shots to keep the minute, that was big,” he mentioned.

“The rotations changed after that. They got back to their number rotation. I ran guys longer, but we had the lead. You have to have to capitalise on that. And to their credit, their role players made big shots.”