Marc Daigneault shakes off a rough start against the Pacers

OKLAHOMA CITY — Despite Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Giljus-Alexander scored 47 points in the middle of an 18-point comeback, coach Mark Daigneault and the defending champions made a mistake in their final rematch against Indiana Pacers. The Pacers beat the Thunder 117-114 at the Pike Center.

After the loss, Daigneault tipped his hat To the Pacers for their tenacious approach that kept the Thunder trailing after its only lead of the night — 2-0 — in the first minute of the opening frame.

“They made plays. You give them credit. They made enough plays. In mitigation, the lesson is: when you’re in a deficit like that, it makes you a deficit,” Daigneault said. “It really limits your margin for error the rest of the game. That doesn’t mean you can’t come back and win. It’s a 48-minute game. It was obviously a winnable game for us tonight.”

“But when you go down that much in the first half, it takes a lot of effort to come back and then it comes down to a play here or there, and obviously they were more than two games better than us tonight.”

Marc Daigneault on Pacers’ late-game performance: “The lesson is when you’re in a deficit like that … It really limits your margin for error the rest of the game.”

That doesn’t mean you can’t come back and win…it was obviously a win for us tonight” pic.twitter.com/VGDpVDeIk0

— Joshua Pavon (@joe_svai) January 24, 2026

Gilgeus-Alexander and the Thunder pulled to within one (115-114) with 7.8 seconds left, but ultimately fell short as Isaiah Joe missed a 3-pointer from the corner that likely would have sent the game into overtime. The Pacers regained possession with 1.0 seconds left before sealing the three-point victory.

Marc Daigneault credits the Pacers’ all-game effort against the Thunder

Thunder coach Mark Dayno credited the Pacers for a 48-minute effort in a game that fell short of the defending champions’ 18 points in the final seconds of regulation. Ajay Mitchell has joined the Thunder’s extended injury report ahead of a three-game homestand at the Pike Center as the Pacers prepared for one of their most impressive wins of the season.

The Pacers handed the Thunder only their third loss at home, as Daigneault appreciated the effort of his teamknowing how close his team came to forcing overtime late in the fourth quarter.

“The fight and then the competitiveness of the team was great. I thought we played really well even though it wasn’t a very good shooting night,” Daigneault said. “We played well enough to win 36 minutes in 48 and to their credit, they played 48 and they kept us at it when we tried to get back into it a number of times.

While the Pacers remained consistent from the perimeter, connecting on 16-of-38, led by Andrew Nembhardt’s four 3-pointers, the Thunder finished the night 7-of-26 from deep.