Uncovering Marc Daigneault on the Thunder’s defense in the win against the Trail Blazers

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was impressed with his team’s limiting defense Portland Trail Blazers‘ leading scorers and his poise to remain relentless against his players. The Thunder did it on both ends of the floor. Isaiah Hartenstein is back from a five-game absence and made his presence felt, pulling down a team-high 12 rebounds and scoring 14 points in Oklahoma City’s 118-108 win over the Trail Blazers.

After the game, Daigneault praised his team for its ability to limit Anfernee Simmons and Jeramie Grant to subpar performances while maintaining its composure in responding to the wrong side of a 14-4 road opener.

“The two best guys for us are Simmons and Grant,” Daigneault said. “And Simmons was 3-for-10 and was really quiet in the first half, even on the attempts. I think he only had five attempts in the first half, and Grant was, I think, 0-for-2 or something. 2-for-5. I don’t know what it was, but it was really small attempts, and that’s a good way to start. Take those guys away. Take off the rim.

“We were good on the defensive glass in the first half, (in) the second half, they started to drop more.”

Grant finished with two points on 1-for-5 shooting and Simmons added 14 points on 3-for-10 shooting. Danny Avdia scored a team-high 28 points, including 4-of-9 from deep, and Toumani Camara added 24 points, including connecting on a perfect 5-for-5 from three.

“We wanted to make those other guys make contested shots, and they did,” Daigneault added. “Well, that’s why I said it tests your belief. But we stuck with it and let him win. And had a good enough night defensively and a good enough night offensively to get the win.”

The Thunder scored 39 points in the second quarter, pulled away from 13 at halftime (66-53) and held the Trail Blazers at bay throughout the second half.

Isaiah Hartenstein on Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

After winning, Isaiah Hartenstein revealed what makes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander special. Thunder coach Mark Denno watched as Giljus-Alexander finished with 35 points, five rebounds and three steals. The MVP candidate’s two-way game stands out the most, but for Hartenstein, it’s also who he is team-oriented leaderaccording to Thunder reporter Nick Gallo.

“We have an MVP who plays great defense night in, night out,” Hartenstein said. “He leads the league in blocks from the back.” He makes the crowd play. He is a team man.”

The Thunder will continue their doubleheader against the Warriors on Wednesday.