OKLAHOMA CITY — Mark Daigneault and the Oklahoma City Thunder entered Game 2 trailing Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets after a disappointing finish in their series opener, but they wouldn’t change their approach. In a historic 149-106 beating, Daigneault and the Thunder stuck to who they are, as the head coach put it, rather than calling Wednesday’s win a response to his team blowing a 14-point lead in Game 1.

Instead of making adjustments, Daigneault said he reinforced his game plan since the beginning of the series, including defending Jokic.

“We were just a little sharper. There’s a familiarity thing in the first game of a playoff series when you’re introducing yourself to the opponent, vice versa,” Daigneault said. “We rolled out the same plan. We didn’t change a thing tonight. All we did was learn from the first game how we can execute better. There are some adjustments we can pivot to that we feel like we can go to at this point. But we wanted to see how this plan worked first, and I thought we were a lot sharper.”

The Thunder contained Jokic effectively by throwing different bigs, such as Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jaylin Williams, at him. At the same time, their help defense forced the league’s reigning MVP into contested shots. The Thunder held Nuggets' Nikola Jokic to 17 points on 6-of-16 attempts before fouling out toward the wrong end of a 37-20 third quarter while Oklahoma City was en route to a 50+ point advantage.

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Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) talks to reports after his teams win against the Denver Nuggets in game two of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center
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Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault reacted to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s performance in Game 2. Leading eight players in double figures, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points on 11-of-13 attempts, including 1-of-2 from deep, and a perfect 11-for-11 from the free-throw line. He also finished with eight assists and four rebounds.

After the win, Daigneault gushed over Gilgeous-Alexander’s efficiency while leading the Thunder’s offense to a historic level in the postseason.

“34 points on 13 shots is hard to do. That was impressive. But I thought his floor game was really good,” Daigneault said. “I thought his pace was really good. I thought he was off it early. He made them pay when they overhelped on them. He had the ball ahead of him all night, so he got his teammates shots, too. It wasn’t just a one-man show. He was super efficient. He had an unbelievable blend tonight.”

The Thunder will head on the road for Game 3 against the Nuggets on Friday.