OKC Thunder Navigating Short Handed Season Perfectly

A 21-1 start is impressive no matter how you slice it. However, when you favor in the injury adversity the Oklahoma City Thunder have been forced to battle through, it becomes even more jaw-dropping.

The OKC Thunder have missed All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams, Rising Star big man Chet Holmgren, Defensive-Aces Lu Dort and Alex Caruso, Sharpshooter Isaiah Joe, big man Isaiah Hartenstein and top bench scorer Aaron Wiggins for multiple games.

That hasn't hindered the Thunder from rattling off 13 straight wins to go along with that 21-1 record sitting atop the NBA.

Tuesday's win over the Golden State Warriors showed how perfectly that OKC Thunder bench boss Mark Daigneault is handling this opening short handed stretch to the season.

Winning is fun, so is building massive leads as the Thunder did before intermission in the Bay Area, eventually getting up by 22 points in that contest. However, in the second half, things got messy. The Warriors stormed all the way back to take a four-point lead in the final frame, with the crowd working into a frenzy and the Bricktown Ballers' winning streak on the line. This is a stretch where Daigneault remained disciplined, practicing what he preaches with his broccoli before the skittles analogy.

With a short handed rotation, Daigneault has used this stretch to get developmental minutes for the team's depth pieces. Putting the likes of Jaylin Williams, Ajay Mitchell, Kenrich Williams, Aaron Wiggins and even Branden Carlson in high-leverage spots that they wouldn't typically see with a fully healthy squad.

Even as things got shaky, the Thunder's head coach didn't panic and pull the plug on that group, racing in his star trio out of their normal rotation pattern hoping to sell out for a win at all cost. The head coach understood that while winning is fun, the betterment of this team isn't chasing the Warriors' 73-9 record, but rather preparing to make another deep playoff run as the team tries to go back-to-back as NBA champions.

He lingered on the sidelines during a Warriors run before calling a timeout seeing if his players could work their way out of it on their own, he didn't play Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren or superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander more than their season average. It all worked out in the end, the Thunder won in the clutch in part thanks to a key rebound by Jaylin Williams and a massive mid-range bucket by Mitchell.

All the while, he got the win and developmental minutes in the same game. Even if the scoreboard went the wrong way on the Thunder in that game, it would've still been the correct decision for the long-term growth of Oklahoma City. Daigneault has handled this short handed period for Oklahoma City perfectly and that isn't just due to their 21-1 record.