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While Oklahoma City Thunder veteran Alex Caruso revealed the secret to his team's success, head coach Mark Daigneault revealed his take on the NBA Cup's format of relocating to Las Vegas for the semifinals against the Rockets. After the mid-season tournament's quarter-final knockout round, the four remaining teams — two from the Eastern Conference and the last two in the Western Conference — play in Vegas. Then, the neutral site will host the championship game on Tuesday, which Daigneault had an interesting take on.
Daigneault sees the benefits of the Cup's relocation, which will give his players something they've never seen before during the regular season.
“I think the biggest thing it can present is we're in a different environment, right now, than we're used to. And we're in a non-NBA market; it's kind of a departure from the season,” Daigneault said. “Everything from this to the shootaround is different, and great opportunities for distractions to take our focus from what we need to do on the court. Ultimately, if you have success, you have to handle more and more distractions, cut through those, and stay present through those.
“And this is an opportunity for us to do that. But aside from that, we're trying to normalize it and treat it like any other game — which it is,” Daigneault concluded.
Saturday's NBA Cup showdown will be the Thunder's third meeting with the Rockets this season. Oklahoma City defeated Houston 127-107 earlier in the season, and the Rockets beat the Thunder 119-116 on Dec. 1.
Mark Daigneault sees benefits of Thunder playing in Las Vegas
Head coach Mark Daigneault addressed the Thunder's shortcomings versus the Rockets in their 119-116 loss. He knows avenging the three-point loss won't be easy, as the Rockets are 7-3 in their last 10 games while quickly climbing up the Western Conference standings.
“We have great respect for Houston. They've had a great season so far. They're very difficult to play against because of their physicality, athleticism, intensity — they play with great intensity every night,” Daigneault said. “They play to a very high bar. So, it starts with the respect we have for the opponent. It's hard to score on an opponent if you don't respect them, and we certainly respect them. So, there's ways we try to correct them, [and] they try to correct us.”
After leapfrogging the Mavericks, the 17-8 Rockets are third in the Western Conference, 2.5 games behind the Thunder, who are 19-5 atop the standings.
