Thunder eliminate Suns from NBA Cup in blowout fashion

SB Nation

As expected, the best team in the NBA looked like the best team in the NBA against a Phoenix Suns roster depleted by injuries. Devin Booker was ruled out two hours before game time and missed his third

consecutive game with a right groin strain. The Suns fought hard in spurts, but ultimately had their competitive spirit broken to lose in embarrassing fashion. The Suns fell 138-89 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Suns were overmatched in talent and athleticism and did not force enough stops on the defensive end to keep pace with a red-hot Thunder offense that went 22-of-40 from three overall and 13-of-19 from three in the first half. The Suns also gave up 34 points off turnovers to the 20 points they scored on the Thunder.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 28 points on 11-of-15 from the field and 8 assists. Chet Holmgren was a force on both ends of the court and finished with 24 points on 9-of-13 from the field. He knocked down jump shots from three, punished the Suns’ small switching guards in the paint, and controlled the paint for the Thunder defensively with 3 blocked shots. The Suns were abysmal from two, especially in the first half, where they shot 9-of-31. Dillon Brooks scored 16 points 25% shooting, and Jordan Goodwin scored 16 as well. Jamaree Bouyea finished with 15 and was one of the lone bright spots in a 49-point defeat. Thunder’s relentless pressure on the ball made it almost impossible to develop any kind of offensive flow for anyone all game.

The Thunder dominated the Suns and handed Jordan Ott and his team the worst loss of the season so far.

Game Flow

First Half

The Suns opened up the game with a Mark Williams dunk off a nice feed from Allen, but found themselves down 11-2 early in the game after two Brooks personal fouls drawn by Gilgeous-Alexander. After an Allen three, the Suns looked like they might go on a run, but Oklahoma City quickly turned off the water and busted out an early 17-7 lead, causing Jordan Ott to use his first timeout.

The Suns were down 22-14 halfway through the first quarter and needed to get stops and score on the other end. They didn’t do either. Oklahoma City’s lead ballooned to 20, up 36-16 as Ajay Mitchell came in off the bench and scored a quick five points while Jalen Williams and Holmgren continued to dice up the Phoenix’s defense. The Thunder led 38-23 after the first quarter, leaving little to no room for error the rest of the game.

In the second quarter, the Suns competed for the first four minutes. Jordan Goodwin and Jamaree Bouyea led a spirited effort to cut the Thunder lead down to 11, at 45-34, without SGA on the floor. The Suns forced turnovers, pushed the pace, and could have cut the deficit even further if not for Holmgren. He changed multiple Suns shots at the rim, leading to easy runouts on offense. That is when the onslaught began.

The Thunder closed the half on a 31-13 run as SGA, Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Jalen Williams combined to hit seven threes in the final minutes of the second quarter. Dort had hit three threes that touched outerspace before falling sweetly into the hoop. It was an impressive first-half showing from what promises to be a historic season from Oklahoma City as they led 74-48 at halftime, and broke the Suns’ spirit.

Second Half

The second half was all but inconsequential. The Suns continued to play near the half-court circle on offense due to the hellish intensity from the Thunder’s defense. Grayson Allen was ejected for a flagrant-2 foul on Holmgren as the two collided and ended with an Allen shove to send Holmgren sprawling to the floor. The benches emptied as Jalen Williams and Dillon Brooks were jawing at each other; meanwhile, Allen walked despondently over to the bench, knowing his night was likely done. The Thunder starters checked out with a decisive 105-62 lead with 3:03 left in the third quarter, and both teams emptied the end of the benches in the fourth quarter.

Rookie Watch!

For the first time in a while, Suns rookies Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach got extended run. Fleming was active on both ends of the floor. He was forcing deflections and had a nice finish in transition on a lob pass. He knocked down a three, a long two, and airballed one as well. Maluach continued to show why consistent rotation minutes are a ways away as he failed to bully a much smaller Kenrich Williams in the post and threw up a half-hearted midrange shot. Later on in the fourth quarter, Maluach showcased his potential as he picked and popped for three on one end (although he missed the three), and had a nice block at the rim on the other, which led to one of Fleming’s three in transition. He later had a nice floater in the short roll to score his only basket of the game.

The Suns must continue to find opportunities to get Fleming time on the floor because his athleticism and activity pop every minute he plays. He finished with 7 points and a steal.