The No. 1 seed in the West did what No. 1 seeds do.
The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Phoenix Suns 120-107 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
The Thunder led by 26 points, but the Suns, aided by Dillon Brooks’ 30 points, cut the lead to 10 late in the fourth quarter. But that’s the beauty of the Thunder. Even though the team lost Jalen Williams to a hamstring injury, the lead stayed in double digits and the game was never really in doubt as the Thunder closed out the game.
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Here are the key takeaways from a Thunder win that looks tough to beat:
SGA remains a difficult problem to solve
It’s clear that the Suns’ primary, secondary and third-down defensive action sequences all revolve around slowing down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The reigning league and Finals MVP is one of the most efficient scorers in recent NBA history, and he seems to see a crowd every time he turns around and catches the ball.
Phoenix is one of the best teams in the league at forcing turnovers, and they displayed a variety of different defensive methods at SGA—switching, pressing, even reverting to a “box one”—to try and stop Gilgeous-Alexander from scoring, but to no avail. Aside from a few early miscues (mostly due to good looks), Gilgeous-Alexander came into his own for the Suns, using his casual, tight movements to keep Phoenix off-balance and finish with a game-high 37 points.
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Dillon Brooks, the Suns’ best chance to defend SGA, was benched frequently. Thanks to the intelligent and timely Thunder screen. It’s hard enough to slow down the Thunder even when its best player struggles like he did in Game 1. If he can keep up his scoring pace like he did in Game 2, this series won’t last long.
A “big” problem
Simply put, the Suns need more from Oso Iguodaro in this series. With starting center Mark Williams out with a foot injury, head coach Jordan Ott called on the second-year big man to fill the void — but the lights seemed too bright for the 23-year-old.
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In the opening minutes of the first quarter, Iguodaro missed two close-range opportunities at the rim, the first after a smart screen and slip, and the second when he failed to get the ball to the much smaller Gilgeous-Alexander. On the other end, he looked out of his depth against Isaiah Hartenstein and picked up two early fouls, forcing Ott to turn to rarely used rookie big man Kaman Maluach in an attempt to steady the Suns.
Mallucci’s first move was a powerful two-handed alley-oop, a stark contrast to Iguodaro’s inability to capitalize on clear opportunities. Maluac attempted a wild three-pointer during a crucial back-and-forth game in the second quarter, but otherwise provided solid output, becoming the first choice in the final period and finishing with a team-best +10. Iguodaro performed better in the second half, but still finished with a -23 mark, the worst of any starter. “A better second half” isn’t enough against a Thunder team of this caliber.
What can the Suns do?
Returning to Phoenix with a 2-0 score, it may be time for the Suns to consider lineup adjustments. One of their calling cards during an impressive season has been their roster flexibility, with a variety of plug-and-play options that can be executed when needed.
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Veteran forward Royce O’Neale, who has 50 games of playoff experience, showed why he deserves the recognition in Game 3.
O’Neal has been known for years as a switchable, tenacious, and stable 3-and-D player who can fully space the floor, be an active connector, and also defend at a high level. Among players who have taken at least five three-pointers per game in 45 regular-season games, O’Neal ranks ninth in the league in three-point shooting percentage at 40.8.
He came off the bench Wednesday night and seized his opportunity, scoring 11 points in 17 first-half minutes, hitting all three-pointers, along with five rebounds, two assists and a steal. (He finished the game with 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.) In addition to his ability to guard multiple positions, a much-needed skill against the best teams in basketball, O’Neal started 67 games this year and should have a role in reclaiming his spot.