After the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 99-83 in their first NBA Cup matchup on Friday, head coach Mark Daigneault expressed his continuous frustration with his team not earning enough trips to the free-throw line. And he had the stats to back it up, including the free-throw shooting disparity in the Thunder’s first 12 games of the 2024-25 regular season.
“The free-throw disparity coming into tonight was minus-4.4, which is fifth-last in the league,” Daigneault said. “It’s us, Charlotte, Toronto, Brooklyn, and Washington. So, that was before 40 to 18 tonight. I felt bad. I like Mitchell Ervin. I’ve known him [for] a long time. He worked in the G League. He’s a really good guy. Dedrick [Taylor] G League guy. Matt [Myers] G League guy. I’ve known those guys a long time, and I’m like lightening up tonight.”
Daigneault explained it wasn’t a particular call that put him over the top in Friday’s win but instead the outcome of an accumulative frustration three weeks into the regular season.
“Not because of one call tonight, but there’s an accumulative frustration we have at this point because our guys are working too hard,” he added. “But, we’re in the bonus 62 percent of quarters. That’s the lowest in the league. Tonight, we were in the bonus 14 minutes. They [Suns] were in the bonus half the game; 24 minutes.”
The Suns went 30-for-40 from the line, while the Thunder made 17-of-18.
“It’s capping us offensively, and the guys want to improve, so they’re asking how we can improve. There’s only so much we can improve on if we’re not getting to the line when we’re putting that much pressure on the basket with the driving,” Daigneault added. “So, I was frustrated with those guys tonight, but it’s accumulative frustration.”
Devin Booker went 8-for-8 in the Thunder’s win. He and Jusuf Nurkic shot a combined 12-for-16 from the charity stripe.
Mark Daigneault says free-throw disparity ‘hurts’ Thunder’s offense
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Amid Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault sharing his recent findings on the free-throw shooting disparity during Friday’s postgame press conference, he was careful not to place all the blame on the officials. But he also didn’t hold back in his puzzling results.
“We’re going to continue to look in the mirror, and we’re not going to outsource everything to the officials,” Daigneault said. “But we’re trying to figure out what we can do with how much we’re putting pressure on the basket to get to the free-throw line more because it’s really hurting our offense right now. We’re not getting there.”
Daigneault and the Thunder’s research continues Saturday against the Mavericks.
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