Mark Daigneault 'Expecting Fans to be Excellent'; Oklahoma City Buzzing With Playoffs Nearing

It's been a special season for basketball in Oklahoma City with the Thunder now hosting the New Orleans Pelicans in a playoff series.

Oklahoma City is buzzing. The Thunder is back in the postseason playing home playoff basketball for the first time since 2019, and the team is in the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season. The city is bringing every bit of the energy in doing so. There are murals up downtown and fans are highly anticipating the Sunday night matchup to kick off the first-round series.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is expecting great energy from the fans attending the first game of the series.

"Our fans have been great all season, I’m expecting our fans to be excellent going into Game 1,” Daigneault said.

The resurgence of basketball has been felt in the arena. The atmosphere is back to what it was like pre-rebuild, and really even before the Paul George era. There's an electric feel in the arena, and the Paycom Center is built for playoff basketball.

“Playoff basketball, I think it feels a lot different, but it’s not a different game,” Daigneault said.

The atmosphere in the Paycom Center should reflect this. For fans of the early Thunder teams, the volume in the arena should be reminiscent of a Russell Westbrook slam in the playoffs, or even a Kevin Durant game-winner.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the best players in the NBA, Jalen Williams is going to bring an infectious energy through his game and the entire well-rounded team is going to have a juice to it. The matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans is going to provide tight games and an incredible matchup.

Some media and fans around the league don't have much hope for the Thunder, citing their inexperience and youthful age as a potential reason for a first-round loss. Coach Daigneault doesn't seem to agree with such.

“The age is just a number. It’s a difference between age and maturity,” Daigneault said.

The Thunder has the potential to silence critics, playing mature basketball and having timely key moments to put the Pelicans away as they search to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

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