Thunder’s Mark Daigneault sounds off on factor that led to second straight loss to Blazers

November 12, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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Thunder’s Mark Daigneault sounds off on factor that led to second straight loss to Blazers appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have had to soldier on this season amid an injury avalanche has left them quite shorthanded. With Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Cason Wallace already on the mend, Ajay Mitchell had to miss their Wednesday night clash against the Portland Trail Blazers.

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And with that, the Thunder simply did not have enough firepower as they lost their second-consecutive game against the Blazers, 118-108. OKC was still in the game during crunch time, but in the end, head coach Mark Daigneault admitted that Portland simply outplayed them when it mattered the most.

“We played really hard tonight. I thought we really competed. I thought our execution was pretty good… Credit Portland. They made more plays down the stretch,” Daigneault said after the game, per Nick Gallo of FanDuel Sports Network.

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With 3:07 remaining in the game, the Thunder were down by just three points, 103-100, after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander split a pair on the charity stripe. But the Blazers would lock in and score on seven consecutive possessions to keep OKC at bay.

It is not too often that any team gets their way against the Thunder’s elite defense. But in a make-or-miss league, Deni Avdija and Damian Lillard got the job done for Portland to sweep the mini two-game set on a back-to-back against OKC.

As for the Thunder, they most certainly need more help on offense. Gilgeous-Alexander is facing a crowd on every possession, especially with OKC starting Isaiah Hartenstein and Aday Mara, two paint-bound bigs on offense, sharing the court to start the game. This has caused a drop in scoring efficiency for the reigning MVP.

It did not help that Jared McCain shot just 3-of-14 from the field to finish with just 10 points on the night. This Thunder team will still win plenty of games thanks to Gilgeous-Alexander’s greatness and the team’s strong defensive floor. But for them to buy enough time for their core players to potentially return from injury, the Thunder will need to perform better on offense to keep in step with their opponents.

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