OKC Thunder: Mark Daigneault Not Focused on Playoff Positioning

The Oklahoma City Thunder find themselves at the top of the Western Conference standings sitting at 45-19. Though, the race is heating up for the final 18 games of the season. 

Oklahoma City only continues a half-game lead on the Nuggets, with just a game and a half keeping the Thunder from third place. With under 20 games to play and a six-game cushion on the fifth seed, it seems the Thunder are a lock to at least host the first-round series. 

However, as the NBA world plots out the playoff scenarios daily, the Oklahoma City Thunder are not focusing on the standings, instead worrying about maximizing the rest of the 82-game regular season. 

"Haven't used the P word [Positioning], so more focused on continuing, improving here for the last quarter of the season. There's A lot of time left. What I would say is our habits, our fundamentals, continuing to improve those and sharpen them. Have those as harden as possible as we get to the end of the season," Daigneault said recently.

Another goal for the final stretch of the regular season is about “continuing to see our team as a work in progress. Not allowing our relative success we have had to this point to harden the way we see this team. The way we see this team is a living organism," the Thunder bench boss added.

Though, part of the last 20 games will be to continue to learn more about themselves. 

“Understand how we are getting play and how we will attack that," Daigneault revealed which of course will play into their postseason prep work. 

While the team is still focused on getting the most amount of work and development in these 82 games as possible, the Western Conference standings are separated by a razor's edge right now, and these games count the same as they did in October and will in April when it comes to setting the final table heading into the Postseason. 

Up Next, the Oklahoma City Thunder continue their four-game homestand by welcoming in the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. With the Nuggets making a comeback against the Raptors Monday night, the pressure is on the Thunder to match as they jockey for positioning.