OKC will ‘look in the mirror’ to fix problems after Danny Avdia’s big night

After that Oklahoma City ThunderEight-point victory (123-115) against the Portland Blazers, coach Mark Daigneault reacted to Danny Avdia23 free throw attempts for a 31 point performance. In the same game, Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded his 93rd consecutive 20-point game. Daigneault, who in the past has talked about the officiating as something out of his control, explained its relevance during the closely contested game.

After the victory, Daigneault addressed Avdia made 23 of 37 free throws in the Thunder’s win against the Blazers on Sunday.

“We can’t control the officiating and how the plays are called. So we control what we can,” Daigneault said. “There’s a lot in the game that we can control. I thought Avdija shot 23 free throws tonight, and whenever that happens, we’re going to look in the mirror first. That’s the reality. We could have done a lot better with him in executing our plan, putting him in a bigger crowd.

“He was on the island a lot of nights, especially in the first half, and you had three officials staring at him when that was the case.

Daigneault says the Thunder need to do a better job of keeping opposing teams on the defensive end of the floor.

“So they went out and got a lot of plays tonight,” Daigneault added. “But we’ll try to control what we can and let the chips fall when they can.”

Marc Daigneault impressed with Danny Avdia in Thunder win

Before facing the only team to beat the defending champions this season, Thunder coach Mark Daigno he warned his team Danny Avdi and the Blazers. Therefore, it was no surprise to see Avdija put together such a dominant performance in a losing performance.

“Avdia is a really good player — he’s proven that this season,” Daigneault said. “He’s a great driver. He’s got all the tricks in terms of punishing you when you’re not legal. He’s very, very hard to cover. I thought we did a really good job in Oklahoma City. He made three free throws and we really kept him in check. I thought a lot of it was the game plan. He didn’t play his best game, but our game plan was sharper than last night.

“When you kind of get out of the plan like that, those guys can make you play. Obviously the whistle was tighter tonight. So that helped too. But obviously we have to be better against a player like that. He’s a load,” Denjo concluded.

The Thunder will wrap up their quick two-game road trip against the Warriors on Tuesday.