Mark Daigneault Discusses OKC Thunder Chase For Top Seed

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the hunt for the best record in the NBA as they soon will clinch the No. 1 seed in Western Conference. Mark Daigneault explained the teams strategy in gunning for the top spot.

Mar 12, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault watches from the sideline as they take on the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a chance to officially stake its claim to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference tonight with a win and a Los Angeles Lakers loss. Even if the celebration is delayed by a game or two, the Thunder have all but salted away the honor with a 56-12 record and a 12.5 game cushion on the No. 2 seed.

OKC is still in a chase for the top overall record in the league which, if they can catch the Cleveland Cavaliers (56-12), would grant the Thunder home court advantage through the Finals instead of just the Western Conference bracket.

While that is a luxury, the Thunder are not going to make sacrifices to get it. At practice on Tuesday, Mark Daigneault dished on how Oklahoma City is approaching the chase for the beset record in the NBA.

"Not at the expense of wanting to go into the playoffs healthy, fresh, confident and as improved as we can be. Those are the priorities. We want to be healthy, as healthy as we can be going into the playoffs. We want to be fresh, we want the guys to have the juice for sure. Because those [playoff games] are taxing as we know," Daigneault said. "We want the guys confident, because those are high stakes games and you need confidence to perform in the playoffs and we want to use these games to make sure every guy is confident heading into those games. We want to improve through the games and wherever that lands us."

The Oklahoma City Thunder are not concerend with chasing the Cleveland Cavilers at the expense of healthy, freshness and improvement as a whole for its roster. While it would be nice to controll your own destiny as a home court advantage team, there is a long path for each side to get there.

No matter who winds up with the top record in the NBA, it only will come into play if each No. 1 seed waltzes into the NBA Finals. At that point, you just play it out regardless of which games are at home.

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