Three points. One make on seven shots. Two nights after breaking a franchise record with 43 against Golden State, Devin Booker posted his lowest-scoring night since his rookie season, and the Phoenix Suns got pushed around in Oklahoma City.
It wasn’t just Devin Booker’s fault. Or Miles Bridges’ fault. Or Dillon Brooks. Or Jordan Ott.
It was everyone, collectively. You could pinpoint so many different issues happening simultaneously… it’s not encouraging.
The most frustrating part? This was the softest
the Thunder will look all year. They were on the second night of a back-to-back, missing Jalen Williams after a brutal injury, and they lost Alex Caruso in the second quarter. No Chet, no Cason Wallace. It didn’t matter. OKC still controlled the game wire to wire. And yes, even with the injuries, they are still a very good team. I am not saying the Suns had to win, but I expected a little more competitiveness in this one.
Three games in, nobody should be writing off this season. But the loss put a spotlight on problems that have been building since opening night: a hit-or-miss franchise player, a team constantly losing the rebounding fight, and an offense with no clear identity.
And it wasn’t just this loss, or the 41-point loss on Opening Night, that made me feel uneasy about this team. Even their win against the Warriors’ backup squad looked sloppy.
Should Booker force the issue?
After his 43-point, 7-rebound, 7-assist opener, Booker said he wanted to be more assertive this season. In OKC, he took seven shots. Give the Thunder credit for the game plan, but Booker owns a big piece of this one.
When your franchise player goes passive, the whole roster feels it. Suns fans would rather see Booker go 2-for-15 hunting his shot than 1-for-7 waiting for the game to come to him. Nobody blinks at a superstar forcing it to get going. The playmaking dried up too, and his frustration showed on several possessions. I’m not suggesting he shoots over three defenders as he mentioned postgame, but there were times I thought he played a bit too passively.
There’s a bigger issue underneath. Teams can load up on Booker this easily because the unit around him doesn’t punish them for it. That’s a roster construction problem that has been sitting there all along, and the Thunder exploited it.
So, What’s the Issue?
The talent is there. The starters just haven’t figured out how to play together yet. Possessions stall, the ball sticks, and too many trips end in a contested jumper. The Suns play too small and do not gang rebound to make up for their deficiencies on that end.
The question is… is the fit there? I think not. Does that mean it won’t change? Absolutely not, but there need to be significant structural adjustments made for this to work.
The Brooks and Bridges pairing sums it up: roughly 5-of-20 combined from three, minimal playmaking, and very little ball movement between them. It makes for a disjointed watch, and it puts even more weight on Booker to create everything.
What stings most is the offseason message. Continuity was the selling point all summer, with the whole group in the gym together and a reputation as one of the hardest-working rosters in years. You’d expect that team to come out of the gate faster than this.
There have been bright spots. Jalen Green looked comfortable early and finished with 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists on 8-of-13 shooting, and he and Maluach connected on a sharp backdoor feed for an easy finish. Luke Kennard, Goodwin, and Collin Gillespie combined to go 10-of-21 from deep.
I will try my best to pump the brakes on the panic, but not ignore the film. It’s a fine line.
Last season’s group started 1-4 and still found its way to 45 wins. This roster can turn it around too, as long as players accept some sacrifices and some new roles. If not? It could get ugly.
