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Oklahoma City Thunder Coach Marc Daignault insisted his record-breaking team still has room for improvement and urged them to maintain their intensity.
Oklahoma won their 16th straight game last night, beating the Phoenix Suns 138-89 which saw them Advance to the Final Four of the NBA Cup and match the league mark for the best record in history after 25 games.
The Thunder are now 24-1 – a mark set by the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors – and will head to Las Vegas in a confident mood after suffering the worst loss in history for Phoenix.
Now the challenge is to stay focused.
Dagnoult said: “Not focusing on the winning streak. You have to play the next possession, get better the next day, win the next quarter and get to the next game. And then if you do that and you’re in that process, sometimes you look and you can win a few games in a row. But we definitely need to understand, we still have a lot to improve and we have a lot more. There are competitive challenges ahead.”
SGA puts its feet up
They were too good for Phoenix and their starters – including the reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – More than three minutes left to play in the third quarter.
“I thought we had good mental toughness tonight,” added Daignoult.
“It’s hard to play with the leads. It’s hard not to get distracted by the score. I thought the group to start the third quarter came out and threw the first punch, and that energy continued into the third. Then in the fourth quarter the group did a good job of just playing on the next possession. That’s how you get into the habit, however you end the game. Winning the game.”
It hasn’t always been this way for the Thunder as forward Jaylen Williams was quick to emphasize.
“Winning is never boring. There was a time when some players in our team would get out,” he said.
“So I think a lot of people have that in the back of their minds. Me too, my first year we didn’t win a ton — we were strong, but I think I have that in the back of my mind. And you can’t get tired of the process.”
