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MEMPHIS — Despite Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma City Thunder coming off their most winning regular season in franchise history, head coach Mark Daigneault doesn't forget that he's leading the youngest team in the NBA. Maintaining his team's confidence is vital in their series against the Memphis Grizzlies. After Holmgren entered halftime 0-for-4, Daigneaut instilled that faith, leading to the Thunder's 29-point comeback win in Game 3.
Holmgren bounced back in the second half of Thursday's 114-108 win, scoring 16 of his 24 points in the third quarter. He drained 4-of-5 from deep as the Thunder outscored their opponent 36-18, planting the seed for an improbable comeback to take a 3-0 lead in their best-of-7 series. After the game, Holmgren thanked his head coach.
“First of all, credit to Mark for sticking with me,” Holmgren said. “It changed the trajectory of the game. He trusted me in calling a play to bomb one out of the half after the s*** storm that I put up in the first half. So, credit to him on that. Then, once I saw one go in, I kind of felt good, and as a team, we controlled what we could control, and we were able to pull off the win.”
The Thunder outscored the Grizzlies 27-13 in the final frame, holding Memphis scoreless in the final two minutes and going on a quick 6-0 run after tying the game at 108.
Mark Daigneault on sticking with Chet Holmgren in Thunder win
After the win, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault addressed Alex Caruso's impact in Game 3. Then, Daigneault opened up about the importance of sticking with Chet Holmgren amid struggles in his second postseason.
“For the most part, we have a pretty inexperienced team,” Daigneault said. “A lot of these situations are relatively new. I mean, we had a run last year, but these guys are young in their careers. Confidence in the playoffs can be fleeting, especially early in careers. Part of my job right now, I think, is to make sure that our guys are all maintaining peak confidence. We have good players that when we're just who we are, it's enough to be a really good team.
“Any time we dip below that, I'm just trying to do everything I can to raise that back up on an individual and on a team level. I was doing that with him last night. We'll need to continue to do that with multiple players,” Daigneault concluded.
The Thunder will play the Grizzlies in Game 4 on Saturday, hoping to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
