Thunder’s Jaylin Williams toughness gets ‘unreal’ endorsement from Mark Diagneault

Entering Wednesday’s matchup with a laundry list of injuries, head coach Mark Daigneault watched Jaylin Willliams and the Oklahoma City Thunder fight, which was led by backup center Jaylin Williams, in an attempt to upset the Detroit Pistons. Daigneault and the shorthanded Thunder face the Pistons without missing four starters. And although Detroit snapped Oklahoma City’s three game win streak, Daigneault spoke greatly about Williams’ performance.

Williams finished with a career-high 30 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal ina 124-116 loss to the Raptors. Daigneault commended Williams for his impressive performance for the Thunder, per The Oklahoman’s Justin Martinez.

“He was unreal tonight. Great toughness and obviously great offense — I think that must be a career high for him,” Daigneault said. “We flowed through him against a team that really pressures, similar to what we’ve had to do lately. He was a great help for us again tonight.”

Asked Mark Daigneault about Jaylin Williams’ toughness tonight:

“He was unreal tonight. Great toughness and obviously great offense. I think that must be a career high for him. We flowed through him against a team that really pressures, similar to what we’ve had to do lately. He… pic.twitter.com/7xYzLWCbYi

— Justin Martinez (@Justintohoops) February 26, 2026

Thunder’s Aaron Wiggins, who started for All-Star Chet Holmgren, alongside Jaylin Williams, finished with 20 points six assists, and four rebounds. Cason Wallace added 23 points on 9-for-17 shooting, including 3-for-6 from deep, and five assists.

Mark Daigneault’s honest take on Thunder’s ‘mental toughness’

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault commended his team’s for its resilience amidst beating good teams without leading scorers such as, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Ajay Mitchell. Without three off its top-four scorers in Wednesday’s 116-107 win against the Raptors, the Thunder prevailed, which left a lasting impression on Daigneault.

“It becomes a very tough game to win when you blow a lead like that, and they come back and tie the game,” Daigneault said. “Even the Cleveland game over the weekend was like that; we had an early lead. They got all the way back in the game. They took a lead. It takes great mental toughness to just get yourself into the next possession.

“Cason was brilliant all night, but he was huge in that stretch. He had four straight points. And then, found Isaiah. So, he accounted for seven points right after the tie that opened the game back up. But great mental toughness by the team.”

The Thunder will host the Nuggets at the Paycom Center on Friday.

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