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The Utah Jazz found themselves on the wrong side of history against Mark Daigneault and the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night. For only the second time in 22 years, the Jazz committed 29 turnovers in a single game. Their opponent, with a top-ranked defense, capitalized, converting them into 45 points in the Thunder’s 133-106 blowout win to clinch West Group B in the 2024 NBA Cup.
Thunder’s win had direct implications for advancing to the second round, as the San Antonio Spurs loss to the Phoenix Suns sealed OKC’s spot as a top-seed in the knockout round. For Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, his team set the defensive tone early through its physicality, translating to a high-level offense.
“I thought our execution tonight was better, along with the physicality,” Daigneault said. “Couple of lapses but otherwise very, very good night on that end of the floor. Great gameplan. I thought Dort did a good job on Markannen.”
In a game where the Thunder made 18 steals, including at least four players finishing with three each, Jazz head coach Will Hardy said Oklahoma City’s defense headlined Tuesday’s performance at the Paycom Center, per Yahoo Sports’ Sarah Todd.
“The story of the game is relatively obvious; it’s the turnovers,” Hardy said. “With 29 turnovers, 18 of them live ball; our ball security got really exposed tonight… they really preyed on us tonight in terms of our lack of quick decision making, got caught in the crowd too much, we didn’t fight for our space very well.
“This was going to be the determining factor of the game, from my standpoint, before the game started,” Hardy concluded.
The Thunder tacked on 102 points through three quarters and took a 27-point lead (102-75) into the final frame before Daigneault sat his starters for the entire fourth quarter.
Mark Daigneault’s blunt take on NBA Cup point differential
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault commended his young guards’ mental toughness, which was on full display following the Thunder’s 119-116 loss. Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins finished with three steals alongside starting forward Jalen Williams (28 points) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26 points). With a lopsided lead intact, Daigneault said he had no intentions of reinserting his starters.
Despite the opportunity to cushion the Thunder’s lead for point-differential purposes, Daigneault told reporters after the win he had no desire to walk down that path as many other teams across the NBA have.
“Zero [temptation to run up the score]. Number one because of player health,” Daigneault said. “I don’t love the design because it incentivizes that.”
The Thunder will face the Raptors on Thursday.
