Mark Daigneault gives instant reaction to Jared McCain’s debut

OKLAHOMA CITY — Coach Mark Daigneault watched Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared McCain debuts on Saturday 112-106 by the Houston Rockets. McCain was greeted with open arms by Thunder fans at the Pike Center as he signed on. He finished with five points, two rebounds and one assist in 15 minutes.

After the game, Daigneault praised McCain for his performance at such short noticeas the Thunder’s trade with the Philadelphia 76ers was just made official, allowing McCain to play in Saturday’s game.

“He’s been good. He hasn’t been here more than 48 hours. So that’s a really tough spot, but I thought he did a really good job of just fitting into the team, fitting into the game,” Daigneault said. “He was confident and aggressive, but not inappropriately so. He looked like he belonged there in terms of the way we play. So he did a good job in obviously challenging circumstances.”

Mark Daigneault on Jared McCain’s Thunder debut: “He hasn’t been here in over 48 hours. So it’s a really tough spot…

He was confident and aggressive, but not unreasonably so. He looked like he belonged there in terms of the way we play.” pic.twitter.com/F74PIVfegR

— Joshua Pavon (@joe_svai) February 7, 2026

Jared McCain followed up his first made bucket since joining the Thunder with a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, prompting another ovation from a newfound fan base excited for what the second-year guard would bring to the defending champions.

With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ruled out of the All-Star game for at least a week with an abdominal injury, Daigneault will rely on his complementary backs, such as Lou Dort, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe and McCain for steady offensive production.

Wallace finished with a team-high 23 points on 10-for-16 shooting and four steals. Joe led the Thunder’s bench production with 21 points and three steals. Tarry Eason’s 26 points led all five Rockets starters in double figures, including Jabari Smith Jr. (22 points) and Kevin Durant (23 points), who combined for a whopping 71 points on 21-of-44 shooting.

Mark Daigneault calls out Thunder’s ‘execution’ against Rockets

Thunder head coach Marc Daigneault called out his team’s late-game execution in a six-point loss to the Rockets on Saturday. Daigneault says the Thunder competed at a high level and stayed close to the Rockets until the end, but couldn’t make a clean defensive save and a string of turnovers resulted in their second straight loss.

“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.”