OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder, no longer the young upstarts, begin their quest for an NBA title repeat on Sunday at home against the Phoenix Suns.
The Thunder remain one of the youngest teams in the league. But now, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads a group of grizzled playoff veterans that won two seven-game series last year, including the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers.
Oklahoma City followed that up by posting the
league’s best record of 64-18 this season, holding off the San Antonio Spurs to secure homecourt advantage. Now, the Thunder have embraced the new challenge of trying to win again.
“This playoff run is so unique and so different to the last one, and we have to have the ability to understand that every series is going to be different, every game is going be different,” Thunder guard/forward Jalen Williams said.
Oklahoma City is rolling, having won 19 of 20 before resting starters the final two regular-season games. The Thunder have lost just one game since the All-Star break with Gilgeous-Alexander in the lineup, and their last home loss with him was Jan. 25 against Toronto.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished second in the league with 31.1 points per game. Fellow All-Star Chet Holmgren averaged 17.1 points and 8.9 assists this season and was second in the league with 1.9 blocks per game.
None of that means Oklahoma City's path will be easy. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said despite being in the play-in, the Suns are a clear playoff-caliber team that will not be taken lightly. Phoenix finished 45-37 in the regular season and reached the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. Devin Booker is an All-Star who averaged 26.1 points and six assists per game this season.
Suns coach Jordan Ott said he's proud of the way his team bounced back from the p lay-in tournament loss to Portland on Tuesday and beat Golden State on Friday night to earn the No. 8 seed.
“I think that the group that’s in that locker room has a ton of resilience and wants to do things different, and that’s what we stress from the get-go,” Ott said. “And sometimes the road’s not always the one that you choose and think it’s going to happen or the one that’s most traveled. Sometimes, it’s the least traveled. So we found our way in. Now, it’s onto the next thing.”
Three key members of Canada's national team will compete in this series — Gilgeous-Alexander and defensive stopper Lu Dort for the Thunder and Dillon Brooks for the Suns.
Brooks is one of the league's best defensive players and best antagonists. He averaged a career-high 20.2 points this season.
Last season, Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell entered the postseason coming off various injuries. He played sparingly in the postseason as a rookie.
This year, he has been a key ingredient to Oklahoma City's success while emerging as one of the league's top reserves. He averaged 13.6 points this season after averaging 6.5 last season.
Williams went through the entire playoffs last season with a hand injury that required surgery. This season, he missed 19 games to start the season as he recovered and 30 as he healed from a hamstring injury.
He's healthy and ready to go.
“I feel extremely fresh because I played, like, 12 games,” he said.
Phoenix's Jalen Green was scorching hot in the two play-in games. He had 35 points in the loss to Portland, then 36 in the win over the Golden State Warriors.
That's a significant jump from the 17.8 points he averaged in the regular season. His recent play will force the Thunder to decide whether to focus on him or Booker.
“I’m very comfortable playing up there with Book," Green said. "You kind of have to pick your poison of how you’re going to guard it. Even if it’s a heavy shift or not, we kind of play off each other in that situation."
Oklahoma City won three of the five meetings. In the most noteworthy matchups, the Thunder crushed the Suns 138-89 in the NBA Cup and the Suns beat the Thunder 108-105 in Phoenix on Jan. 4.
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