Why Mark Daigneault isn't discouraged by SGA's playoff series against Lakers

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Why Mark Daigneault isn't discouraged by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's playoff series against Los Angeles Lakers.

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Clemente Almanza

Tangled together at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's midsection, Austin Reaves' gluey defense turned consequential. Not even two minutes into the second half, the reigning MVP's nightmare start escalated into a bleak reality. Hoping to create separation, he accidentally flung the Los Angeles defender's arms across.

The Oklahoma City Thunder copied their own homework with a 125-107 Game 2 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. They've opened up a 2-0 series lead in Round 2 of the 2026 NBA playoffs.

After a lengthy review, Gilgeous-Alexander was handed an ultra-rare flagrant foul. To make matters worse, it was his fourth foul. Uh oh. Instead of panicking, the Thunder didn't let the potential game-defining moment boil into frustration. They survived another meh game by their best player.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting, two assists and two rebounds. He shot 1-of-3 from 3 and went 7-of-9 on free throws. He also had one steal.

You gotta give the Lakers credit, they've somehow Frankenstein'd a defensive gameplan to make Gilgeous-Alexander look like his 2020 form. Blitzing him every time he had the ball, he's seldom had time to think — much less space to hunt an isolation look.

Gilgeous-Alexander's Game 1 struggles translated over to Game 2. To make matters worse, he couldn't stop committing costly fouls. Frozen at 11 points in the first half, he missed most of the third quarter due to foul trouble. Disastrous. Any other NBA contender would've folded under similar circumstances without their MVP candidate. Instead, OKC shrugged its shoulders and moved forward with a new formula for success.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault talked about his decision to ride with the Thunder's bench group — even when Gilgeous-Alexander was in the clear from any potential disqualification.

"I probably would've gone back to him in the third. I was planning on doing that in my head, but we played so well. I just kept riding it," Daigneault said on Gilgeous-Alexander's fourth foul. "It got him fresh. Allowed him to play the whole fourth. It was a great team win."

Hit with a flagrant foul, Gilgeous-Alexander talked about the referees' slap on the wrist. It was one of many stoppages to undergo reviews. By the end of the night, neither side was happy with the officiating. The Lakers huddled around them after the final buzzer to get some sorta explanation. Or more cynically, politicking for Games 3 and 4 back in their home gym.

"I didn't get an explanation. But I also didn't ask. It's not going to change the call, so I didn't really care. But I felt like he was hugging around me. I just tried to get loose. My arms got caught. Unfortunate. I didn't mean to hurt him," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "That's the way it goes. It is what it is. You move on. I didn't want to use it as a distraction. The team did a great job of handling business. These guys are gamers. No matter what happens, personnel-wise out there, we've been through ups and downs all year."

Eventually, Gilgeous-Alexander salvaged some of his night. He scored nine points in the fourth quarter. Finally, he got to the rim and finished through traffic. He added an outside jumper for extra flair. The Lakers couldn't find a counter to his one-on-one scoring talent as they quickly fell behind on the scoreboard.

It's been an odd Round 2 series for Gilgeous-Alexander so far. On one hand, the Lakers' daring strategy has completely nuked his numbers. He looks closer to Cade Cunningham than the guy mentioned in the same sentences as Michael Jordan. On the other hand, though, his decoy act has opened up great looks for his teammates. It's a mixed bag of results, but Daigneault won't let surface-level numbers cloud him.

"How he's responded is how he always responds — which is that nothing bothers the guy. He's pretty unflappable. He understands the nature of these series. It's quality opponents that are capable of executing a lot of different things. He's the centerpiece of game plans," Daigneault said about Gilgeous-Alexander. "They're doubling him about as aggressively as we've seen and as consistently as we've seen. He just continues to find a blend of his aggression, getting off early and empowering his teammates in the way that he's played."

I keep saying the Thunder need Gilgeous-Alexander to play a lot better, but two 18-point wins over the Lakers prove otherwise. It kinda breaks your brain and forces you to rethink some of basketball's rules of thumb. I think things will normalize in Los Angeles. On the road, OKC will surely need the probable back-to-back MVP winner to play like it.

"The way basketball works, usually the more physical team and the team that imposes their will more, wins. That's probably why we won tonight. Probably why we won the last game," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "We did a good job — especially in the second half — playing our style of basketball. Being physical. Pressuring them. Making things uncomfortable."