Mark Daigneault calls out Thunder’s ‘execution stuff’ in loss vs. Rockets

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a 112-106 loss to the Houston Rockets, Mark Daigneault and the Oklahoma City Thunder dropped its fifth loss in eight tries, second consecutive, as the defending champions continue life without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Thunder All-Star Gilgeous-Alexander will sit through the All-Star break with an abdominal injury. He’s 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 to within two (103-101) with 1:59 left to play, the Rockets kept their opponent at bay by executing plays down the stretch, and stringing together defensive stops, which Daigneault discussed during his postgame media availability.

“We played the game really hard, which was positive. 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 couple of more plays than us, and I thought, in terms of what we can control, there were some execution stuff on both ends that just wasn’t clean enough in a possession game like that.

“But it wasn’t due to a lack of wanting it or a lack of togetherness. I thought we had that today.”

Jared McCain checks in for his Thunder debut pic.twitter.com/8UdQF2TfWT

— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) 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 of four offensive rebounds, and two Thunder 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 silving lining amid SGA-less Thunder

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault offered a silver lining a loss to the Spurs on Wednesday. Following Satruday’s defeat, Daigneault’s brightside of 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 impact for the shorthanded Thunder.

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

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

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

So, when he’s that kind of offensive threat and he’s the defender that he is, he really is a complete player” pic.twitter.com/qSwbL0EH9B

— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) February 7, 2026

Isaiah Joe’s 21 points, including three threes, and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line led the Thunder bench. Chet Holmgren added 17 points and 14 points.

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