After a day of absorbing and analyzing Game 2, the focus shifts to Game 3 between the Phoenix Suns and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Phoenix returns home for its first postseason game in nearly three years, and the challenge in front of them is real. The Thunder, through two games, look like a machine.
It feels like riding in a Tesla when someone flips it into sport mode and you are gripping the door as it launches down the highway. Your head sinks into the headrest as electricity drives you forward.
That is what playing Oklahoma City feels like. It’s fast, efficient, and relentless. For some, that rush is the appeal. It is not for everyone.
So, how do you beat a team like this? What gives you a chance to take one back on your home floor? As we turn to Game 3, here are three things the Suns need to accomplish.
Push the Pace
I liked the idea from head coach Jordan Ott to lean into pace against Oklahoma City in Game 2. It tracks. If you let them sit in the half-court and load up defensively, they will eat. This is the best defense in the NBA. Any chance to push them back, get them on their heels, and keep them from getting set works in your favor.
It is not a natural style for Phoenix. They finished 24th in pace, so playing faster introduces some discomfort, reads you do not make as often, and decisions that come quicker than you are used to. Still, you are searching for edges wherever you can find them, and pace can be one.
After every rebound, after every make by Oklahoma City, get the ball out and get up the floor. Quickly. Force them to react instead of dictate. Oklahoma City will counter. Expect full-court pressure, expect them to try to slow you before you cross half-court. That adjustment is coming.
Game 2 showed a glimpse. Phoenix won the fast break points 14-11. It is something to build on and something to test again.
Hold on to the Rock
One of the byproducts of playing with pace, especially when it is not your natural rhythm, is mistakes. Against Oklahoma City, mistakes turn into points in a hurry. They finished third in the NBA in steals at 9.7 per night. Phoenix was right there at 9.5, fourth in the league, and still, the margin shows up in a different place.
Turnovers.
The Suns were 15th in the NBA at 14.5 per game, and that number has climbed through two postseason games. Oklahoma City has turned it over 18 times total, the fewest of any team in the playoffs. Phoenix has 41. That gap is as loud as the fans in Loud City. Did you know that’s what they call OKC? Loud City? Now you do.
The points off those mistakes are louder. The Suns have allowed 54 points off turnovers and scored 11. Loose handles, rushed passes, decisions made a beat too late; it all feeds into what the Thunder want to do. It fuels their runs, it creates separation, it turns competitive stretches into uphill climbs. If Phoenix wants a chance in this series, it starts here.
Protect the ball.
Threes, Anyone?
The path to a Suns win in this series is narrow, and it runs through the three-point line. There is a version of this where Phoenix catches fire and flips a game. That is the version you are chasing.
This is a Suns team that already leans on the three. They attempted the 5th most in the NBA and made the most by a Suns team in team history. Against Oklahoma City, it becomes essential. Phoenix hit 20 or more threes 10 times this season and went 9-1 in those games. They hit 18 or more 17 times and went 14-3. The math is clear. You have to shoot them, and you have to make them.
The looks are there. In this series, the Suns are shooting 34.3% from deep, 24-of-70, and half of those attempts are classified as “wide open”. They are hitting 37.1% on those. One out of every two threes is wide open, and those have to fall at a higher rate. Right now, that 37.1% on wide open threes ranks ninth among playoff teams still playing. That is not enough in this matchup. The process is working. The opportunities are there. Now you have to cash them in.
It is possible to beat Oklahoma City. We have seen it. The Suns did it in the regular season. It took a Devin Booker buzzer beater and came in a game with lineups that looked more G League than playoff rotation, but it still counts. It shows a path.
This season has already pushed past expectations. This team has overachieved. If they want to reach a little further, they grab one at home. Game 3 or Game 4. Extend this to five. That is progress. That is growth.
And it would be fun.
