Thunder coach Mark Daigneault victorious in homecoming
Thirty-five year old Mark Daigneault is in his first season as an NBA head coach.
But when the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled into the TD Garden in Boston on Tuesday evening, it was far from Daigneault, a Massachusetts native’s, first experience attending a Celtics game.
“We grew up Celtics fans and I spent a lot of time in this building as a fan,” he said after the game.
In his first trip back to the Boston Garden as a coach, he said he had tons of family make the hour-long trip from Leominster, MA, to be in the house to greet his homecoming.
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“This is a Super Bowl for the Daigneualt family,” OKC’s coach said before the game.
Just as Boston sports fans have become accustomed to seeing their team win Super Bowls, Daigneault treated his family to an entertaining battle which saw the Thunder snap a losing streak that was on the verge of making history.
Matching the franchise worst 14-game slide, Oklahoma City’s youth movement was on full display as a gaggle of second year players led the Thunder to a 119-115 victory.
Luguentz Dort and Darius Bazley have found a new level after missing considerable time with injuries, and point guard Ty Jerome has carved out a role as the sharpshooter giving the OKC bench a boost.
The trio combined for 60 of the team’s points, bolstering Daigneault’s reputation as a head man with the chops for excellent player development.
Unfortunately, Daigneault said he likely wouldn’t get to meet up with his family to celebrate the victory.
“I haven’t seen them yet,” he said after the game. “I think I can go wave to them through like a Plexiglas, that’s what’s been described to me.
“But it was really cool. It was really cool to have them here.”
