Mark Daigneault calls out OKC’s ‘execution stuff’ in loss to Rockets

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a 112-106 loss to the Houston Rockets, Mark Daigneault and the Oklahoma City Thunder suffered a fifth defeat in eight attempts, second in a row, as the defending champions move on without Shai Giljus-Alexander. Thunder All-Star Gilgeous-Alexander will sit out the All-Star break with stomach injury. He is expected to be re-evaluated after next weekend. The Rockets outscored the Thunder 34-22 in the third quarter.

Houston erased a 15-point deficit. Despite the Thunder pulling within two (103-101) with 1:59 left, the Rockets kept their opponent at bay by making plays down the stretch and stringing together defensive stops, which Daigneault which was discussed during his postgame media availability.

“We played the game really hard, which was a positive thing. I thought we really attacked the game on both ends of the floor, played the right way, we were competitive and we were together,” Daigneault said. “They made a few times more than us, and I thought, in terms of what we could control, there were some executions on both sides that just weren’t clean enough in a possession game like this.”

“But it wasn’t for lack of desire or lack of togetherness. I thought we had that today.”

Jared McCain checks in for his Thunder debut pic.twitter.com/8UdKF2TfVT

— Joshua Pavon (@joe_svai) February 7, 2026

The Thunder committed costly turnovers and gave up critical second-chance points down the stretch. In the final two minutes of Saturday’s loss, the Rockets scored five points off four offensive rebounds and two turnovers. In the same span, Oklahoma City also went 18 of 28 from the free throw line to the Rockets’ 21 of 28.

Mark Daigneault’s silver lining amid the SGA-less Thunder

Thunder head coach Marc Daigneault offered a silver knockdown Spurs on Wednesday. After Satrude’s loss, Daigneault’s bright side in the matinee loss to the Rockets was Cason Wallace, who finished with 23 points on 10-for-16 shooting.

After the loss, Daigneault discussed Wallace’s influence for shorthand Grom.

“He had a really good game. Tonight was a really good night for him,” Daigneault said. “He’s had a good chunk of offense the last few weeks and the defense is always there. So when he’s that type of offensive threat and he’s the defender that he is, he’s really a complete player and brings a lot of positivity to our team. And I thought that was the case today. I thought he played his minutes really well. He earned his minutes.

He did a great job moving around, guarding different guys. He guarded Durant at one point in the second quarter. He gave us a really good night,” concluded Daigneault.

Marc Daigneault on Cason Wallace’s 23-point performance: “He’s had a nice stretch of offense the last few weeks and the defense is always there

So when he’s that kind of offensive threat and when he’s a defender, he’s really a complete player.” pic.twitter.com/kSvbL0EH9B

— Joshua Pavon (@joe_svai) February 7, 2026

Isaiah Joe scored 21 points, including three 3-pointers, and went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line to lead the Thunder. Chet Holmgren added 17 points and 14 points.