Inside The Thunder

Are the OKC Thunder Saving Tricks up Their Sleeve for NBA Playoffs?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are hurling toward the NBA Playoffs with the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference locked up. Are the OKC Thunder saving any schemes for the postseason?

Rylan Stiles

Mar 21, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault gestures to his team during a play against the Charlotte Hornets during the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Mar 21, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault gestures to his team during a play against the Charlotte Hornets during the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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The Oklahoma City Thunder have the best record in the NBA. Before the calendar even flips to April, the OKC Thunder have clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference which secures them a division banner and home court advantage throughout the West playoffs. While the Thunder have lapped the field in the West, other squads are still scrapping and clawning for positioning with nothing else decided for the conference.

This gives the OKC Thunder another advantage as they can set up and manage their end of season slate better than other teams who need to live-and-die with each tilt.

Last week at practice, head coach Mark Daigneault was asked about how a team handles knowing they are going to the playoffs which Oklahoma City has known since October. With the idea being, do teams really save things for the postseason? Not unveiling grand schemes or strategies until the games intensify? His thoughts on that philosophy were striking.

“I am not a big saving guy. I think you can have the same effect by doing a lot of things and being unpredictable...You can save something and it’s unpredictable because no one’s ever seen it before or you can do so many things that you become unpredictable. You don't know what card you are going to draw at a given time," Daigneault said. "I would rather us having done it and see it, for the most part. If we go to something in the playoffs we haven't gone to yet it would be out of opportunity or necessity not because we haven't thought of it."

That is a good point from the Thunder bench boss who has always thought outside the box of NBA norms to discuss creating the same advantages in a different way. It logically sounds like a better move to have so many options to confuse matchups without confusing yourself as your team gains comfortability in a plethora of different lineups.

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Rylan Stiles
RYLAN STILES

Rylan Stiles is a credentialed media member covering the Oklahoma City Thunder. He hosts the Locked On Thunder Podcast, and is Lead Beat Writer for Inside the Thunder. Rylan is also an award-winning play-by-play broadcaster for the Oklahoma Sports Network. 

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