Amid Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams’ regular-season debut in Saturday’s NBA Cup win against the Phoenix Suns, head coach Mark Daigneault and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander watched Ajay Mitchell limp off the floor with a left knee contusion. The extended list of injuries feels endless for the defending champion. However, it hasn’t disrupted the Thunder’s winning streak, as Williams’ return helped secure its 10th consecutive win.
Oklahoma City improved to 19-1. After the win, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander revealed that Daigneault’s drastic rotation changes, necessitated by injuries, haven’t affected the team’s winning streak because of its strong next-man-up approach.
“It was a little clunky. Our rotations, obviously, haven’t been changed on a dime like that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “One of the muscles coach has built for us over the past couple of years is that he’s so random with lineups and throwing guys into the game, having different situations out there. Guys, playing in different spots. When things like that happen, it’s seamless for us. We don’t even notice it.
“We just go out there and do our jobs no matter who’s on the floor with us, and it’s probably why we’ve gotten off to the start we’ve gotten off to in the past couple years with having some big injuries,” Gilgeous-Alexander concluded.
There’s no update on Ajay Mitchell’s potential return amid his breakout season, as the second-year guard has emerged as one of Daigneault’s go-to options off the bench. Mitchell is averaging 15.2 points on 45.8% shooting, 3.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game this season.
Mark Daigneault was impressed with Jalen Williams’ season debut
In his first outing since Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Jalen Williams wowed Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault in his regular-season debut. After Friday’s 123-119 Thunder win against the Suns in the NBA Cup, Daigneault gushed over Williams’ performance after a five-month absence.
“He played the right way, and he really competed,” Daigneault said. “I thought the ball pressure was like he played yesterday, with the way he was pressuring the ball, and bringing the ball up. It was really impressive, actually, for a guy that hasn’t played since Game 7. So, we gotta work him back in. We had a lot of change tonight without Hart. Without Ajay. You add him in. Kenrich is only in his second game—a lot of Chet at the 5.
“It was just kind of a lot of things that were different right away, which made it a little bit clunky, but it’s giving us something we have to work through. And, I was really happy with the way we just kind of stuck with it tonight. We didn’t get inconvenienced by that or frustrated with the game. We just played the next possession. Did the best we could. I thought he controlled everything he could control and did a nice job — it’s a nice start for him,” Daigneault concluded.
Williams and the Thunder will face the Trail Blazers on Sunday.
