![\"OKC](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2269428073-e1775468059355.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
OKC Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault lauded the squad for recording such a mark ahead of what is expected to be a tough playoff run for the team.<\/p>\n
The OKC Thunder had their best scoring and assist game of the season against the Utah Jazz<\/a> on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Thunder put up 146 points in their 35-point beatdown of the Jazz, on top of tallying a season-best 40-assist performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault lauded the squad for recording such a mark ahead of what is expected to be a tough playoff run for the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur focus never wavered on the offensive end. We moved the ball ahead of them really well. I thought for the most part we played really well,\u201d Daigneault said in the post-game press conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe got to a lot of different things tonight and ripped through some stuff and took a look at a couple of different things,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Thunder scored more than 33 points in all quarters against the Jazz, including a 40-point first-quarter explosion that set the tone for the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n Seven players scored in double digits for the Thunder, led by Chet Holmgren, who had 21 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting from the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n The win pushed the Thunder to a 62-16 record and closer to formally securing the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thunder Not Focused on Standings GettyThunder Mark Daigneault speaks on team mentality ahead of playoffs.<\/p>\n The Thunder may have been sitting atop the Western Conference for most of the regular season, but their focus remained not on the standings but on improving their game for the playoffs, according to Daigneault.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis team is surgically consistent with the approach,\u201d he said after the Thunder beat the Lakers<\/a>, 139-96, on Thursday. \u201cThey\u2019ve been like that for years. You can\u2019t tell, if you\u2019re in our gym, if it\u2019s October or March.\u201d<\/p>\n His statements echoed his earlier sentiment about the team\u2019s approach ahead of the playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf your sense of urgency increases based on the standings, then your sense of urgency wasn\u2019t high enough to begin with is how I would answer that,\u201d he said on March 28. \u201cWe try to have a sense of urgency about improving, building our habits, competing together every single opportunity we get.\u201d<\/p>\n If the Thunder seals the top spot this season, it will be the third straight year that the squad has occupied the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference. In 2024, they lost in the second round against the Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, before winning the championship in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Thunder currently holds a 3.0-game advantage over the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs<\/a>, which is now at 59-19. They both have four games remaining on their schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thunder Roster Looks Intact Heading to the Playoffs GettyOKC Thunder looks intact heading to the playoffs.<\/p>\n The Thunder has struggled with injuries throughout the year, especially from their core players such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, among others.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, with a few games remaining on their regular season schedule, the team is now cleared of any injuries from their rotation, at least according to their latest injury report.\u00a0<\/p>\n Only rookie Thomas Sorber is listed in the injury report. Sorber has been recovering from an ACL tear and has not yet played on an NBA<\/a> court.\u00a0<\/p>\n After wrapping up the regular season, the Thunder will still have a week to prepare for the playoffs as they have to wait for the winner of the play-in tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tRob Andrew Lo<\/a> Rob Andrew Lo is a writer at Heavy Sports and is covering the NBA. He has covered local, collegiate, professional and international sports in various sites. He was the sports editor of The Varsitarian, the official student publication of University of Santo Tomas, and a sports, entertainment, and lifestyle writer for Rappler.
\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Thunder\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty OKC Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault lauded the squad for recording such a mark ahead of what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-701143","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-oklahoma","11":"tag-oklahoma-city","12":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","13":"tag-oklahomacity","14":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","15":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116357119853833810","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2268177814.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n![\"OKC](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2254693672-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n
\nA Journalism graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, he has built his voice across both collegiate and international platforms, previously contributing NBA coverage to Fansided and Sportskeeda.
\n More about Rob Andrew Lo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n