Mark Daigneault blamed himself for why Thunder fouled 'too early' during Game 1 collapse

[ASFN Admin]

The Oklahoma City Thunder squandered a big lead against the Denver Nuggets in the first game of the Western Conference and some of their decisions to foul were a factor.

Rather than trusting Oklahoma City's league-best defense, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault instructed his team to foul the Nuggets each time his team went up by three points. It was a controversial decision that fully backfired as Denver pulled off an extremely improbable comeback.

This all led to an incredible shot from Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon to secure the victory.

More: The Nuggets vs. Thunder win probability chart after the Aaron Gordon shot is mesmerizing

After the game, Daigneault explained his decision and also defended it by saying it has worked for them in the past (via Thunder Wire):

"That's usually our deal. To foul up three and to play that game. I thought we executed the fouls pretty well. Got the ball in-bounds pretty well. It didn't go our way tonight but it's worked out well for us in the past," Daigneault said. "We'll continue to look at it, learn from it but I didn't think that's why we lost the game."

But he also acknowledged that he probably made the choice to start fouling a bit too early, perhaps leaving a bit too much time on the clock.

Mark Daigneault “the foul on 3, that’s on me” mentioned it isn’t on the players they’re executing what he is telling them to do. Added he might’ve gone to foul up 3 a bit too early.

— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) May 6, 2025

More: The Celtics and Thunder played like losers so they lost

Here is more from Daigneault, however, who took the blame for the decision:

"The fouling up three, that's on me. I think giving the foul and getting the foul executed is critical. If there's something to learn from that, it's probably giving it too early on my part," Daigneault said. "That's not on the players. They're executing what I'm telling them to do."

Plenty of basketball fans remained frustrated with Daigneault:

Yeah that loss for OKC was karma for fouling up 3. Everyone hates it including the basketball gods.

— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) May 6, 2025

I absolutely hated fouling up 3 with 11 seconds left in the game.

Especially with Jokic at the scorers table

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) May 6, 2025

Intentionally fouling up 3 - while sound in reason - should and does invoke the ire of the basketball gods

— Clayton Crowley (@ClaytonCrowley) May 6, 2025

The Basketball gods just punished the Thunder for fouling up 3. That's the only explanation

— Trevor Lane (@Trevor_Lane) May 6, 2025

I get fouling up 3, very much a proponent of it. But it's situational, it's not universal. Can't foul up 3 with 11 seconds left on the clock with Jokic out of the game. That doesn't track for me. Too much time, too advantageous a situation.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) May 6, 2025

But at least Daigneault admits that he could take a lesson from the experience.

Perhaps the next time that Oklahoma City (or another team) finds themselves in a similar situation, they play it a bit differently.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Mark Daigneault blamed himself for why Thunder fouled 'too early' during Game 1 collapse

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