Thunder face Grizzlies with a focus on defensive adjustments

Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said there were plenty of lessons that could be learned from Saturday's home loss to the New York Knicks heading into Sunday's home game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Daigneault experimented at times with different lineups, with his team short-handed and trying to develop young players like Aleksej Pokusevski, Theo Maledon and Moses Brown.

But the biggest lesson figures to be on the defensive end, where Daigneault wanted to focus on not only help defense but the rotations coming out of that help.

"When we loaded up and helped, which was our game plan against them, they made the extra passes and our rotations are going to have to be sharp and our multiple efforts are going to have to be on-point to do that and I thought we missed some of those tonight," Daigneault said. "And hopefully we can carry some of that over (Sunday) because it's going to be another priority against Memphis."

For the Thunder, Sunday's game is the last of a three-game homestand to begin the second half before heading on the road for four consecutive games.

Sunday's meeting is the second of three between the teams this season. The Grizzlies won the first meeting, 122-113, in Memphis on Feb. 17 behind a triple-double by Ja Morant.

Justise Winslow didn't play in that game, returning two games later after missing the first 25 games due to a hip injury he suffered in July. Winslow made his Grizzlies debut more than a year after being traded to Memphis from Miami as part of a three-team deal that also included Minnesota.

In eight games, Winslow has averaged just more than 22 minutes and is shooting just 37.3 percent from the floor and just 15.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said he was still working Winslow back in fully.

"It takes time," Jenkins said. "He's only been playing for a couple weeks now with this group on the floor and that's a good opportunity for us as a coaching staff to figure out the best places to put him in there, whether it's our motion offense and free-flowing offense and also the called plays.

"Getting the right information on the best spots to put him in, it's just going to take some time to build that chemistry. But really seeing some good progress so far."

Winslow's addition has given Jenkins more options late in games as well.

"Our depth is definitely an advantage," Jenkins said. "So however we finish games, I'm always confident in a lot of different guys who can help us win ballgames."

The Grizzlies are coming off a 103-102 home loss to Denver on Friday, a game in which Morant missed a layup in the final seconds that would've put Memphis on top.

--Field Level Media