It was an expected result in some ways for the Phoenix Suns on Friday, a loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City against the class of the NBA, but an unexpected ultra-competitive effort and 123-119 final had them advance to the NBA Cup knockout stage via the wild card position.
In a loss, all Phoenix had to do was have its point differential coming in at +35 be higher than the winner between the Memphis Grizzlies (+9) and Los Angeles Clippers (-15), a pair of 2-1 teams facing off that were in a Group B already locked up by the Los Angeles Lakers.
The four-point loss put the differential to +31, and a tightly contested Grizzlies-Clippers tilt ended in a 112-107 Grizzlies win, with their +14 differential coming up short.
Pretty much all of the possibilities from a perspective of the choices the Suns would have to make in the fourth quarter of the first night of a back-to-back unexpectedly went out the window when they took it down to the last few possessions against an all-time juggernaut at the moment.
Phoenix played OKC tight through two quarters of some sloppy unforced errors (that can be credited to the overall pressure the Thunder mentally put on you) and plenty of missed shots from 3 before the third quarter once again became the Thunder’s playground. They came into the night with a 28.2 net rating in the third quarter and marched all over the Suns for a 38-30 edge to lead by 12 going into a crucial fourth quarter.
But Phoenix remained plucky (as usual) instead of letting the Thunder start the early celebrations, getting it back to single digits a little over 90 seconds into the final period and keeping it there, even cutting it to a two-point game with 5:32 to go and then a one-point game at 3:01 remaining.
Collin Gillespie matched a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander three-point play with his sixth 3 of the game, and after a Dillon Brooks steal, Brooks isolated on Chet Holmgren with a chance to take the lead.
Brooks created his cleanest midrange look of the game on a night he was making much tougher shots, but didn’t get it to go. Gilgeous-Alexander then drilled a side-step 3 in isolation, defended a double-team on Devin Booker that forced a steal and made two more free throws to have OKC all of a sudden up six at 1:26 on the clock.
Gilgeous-Alexander then got a steal but missed a transition layup, and a Royce O’Neale 3 got it back to one possession. An excellent Suns defensive possession got them the ball down three with 36 seconds left. Booker drove to set up an open corner 3 for Brooks that he did not convert, his second big miss of crunch time, and that was pretty much it.
Free-throw shenanigans ensued and nearly got wild when Gillespie almost stole the ball with OKC up two, and his save attempt forced him to tweak his left foot in the process, forcing a notable limp out of him. He remained in the game for the last possession but it came on the same night that Jordan Goodwin did not return after appearing to sprain his left ankle in the fourth quarter too.
Grayson Allen (right quad contusion), Ryan Dunn (right wrist sprain) and Jalen Green (right hamstring strain) all remained out, so missing either Gillespie or Goodwin for any game going forward is pushing Phoenix’s roster limitations to an impossible extent.
It also speaks to how monumental of an effort this was from the Suns in a loss.
Gillespie was brilliant, with those six triples setting a new career high and helping add up to 24 points with three rebounds, four assists and four turnovers. Goodwin provided 14 points and five rebounds.
Friday continued Booker’s recent struggles within the last week, coinciding the building and opponent he has the most trouble figuring out by far.
Across the last two years during the Thunder’s rise and three contests in OKC, Booker was shooting 32% with 12 assists and 13 turnovers. Most notably, his shot total attempts in those games were nine, nine and 10, as the Thunder’s standard-setting defense has continued to nullify him completely to three games under 20 points (12, 14 and 19).
It was 21 points (5-for-13) on Friday with eight rebounds, six assists and five turnovers.
Oso Ighodaro had his best game of the year and played a huge role in Phoenix being able to match a lot of what OKC does well, contributing six points, six rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.
With the result, the two squads will run this exact matchup back in OKC on Dec. 10. If the Suns win that, they would face the victor between the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs in the semifinals on Dec. 13 in Las Vegas. That would make up the totality of Phoenix’s schedule, and if it were to win then as well, a “Game No. 83” would be on Dec. 16 against the team to come out of the Eastern Conference for the NBA Cup and a whole lot of extra cash. The Suns have to have at least two games on the schedule that will count to the regular season standings, while the title game would not.
For the Thunder, this is the fifth time in NBA history a team has started the season at least 19-1, per Stathead. These Thunder join the 1969-70 New York Knicks (60-22, won NBA Finals), 1990-91 Portland Trail Blazers (63-19, lost Western Conference Finals), 1993-94 Houston Rockets (58-24, won NBA Finals) and 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (73-9, lost NBA Finals), who of course didn’t lose until game No. 25.
And the Thunder are crushing teams. Those infamous Warriors held the previous +/- record through 20 games of +303 and OKC has just set a new one at +317. Gilgeous-Alexander has now only played in nine of the possible 20 fourth quarters. Nine! And he came into the day second in scoring (32.2 PPG)! Second!
What Oklahoma City is doing is already remarkable enough on its own, and then you have to digest OKC is without its first-round picks from the last two years (Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber), has gone through different pockets missing Caruso, Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins (who is still out), and most importantly just got back Jalen Williams on Friday.
Williams, a Third Team All-NBA and Second Team All-Defense honoree last year, made his season debut in 29 minutes and was 3-of-12 for 11 points with four rebounds, eight assists, a turnover, two steals and a block.
Gilgeous-Alexander was phenomenal, with 37 points, eight assists and one turnover. If this current pace of the season holds, good luck to anyone with a MVP vote right now.
Allen was upgraded by the Suns to doubtful on Friday after initially being listed as out, which indicates the Suns got a great overnight result on the reduction of swelling it has been hoping to see in that quad.
Isaiah Livers (right hip soreness) was another late addition on Friday and had to sit.
Williams playing for the Suns at center suggests he’s out for Saturday, but head coach Jordan Ott on Monday did sound more optimistic at the idea of Williams completing his first-back-to-back of the season some point soon. Two straight stretches of three games in four days, though, in addition to only one day off on Sunday before another game on Monday, doesn’t make Saturday seem likely still.