OKLAHOMA CITY — It’s always been more about the Phoenix Suns themselves than their opponent, and that even held true against the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a 119-84 Game 1 loss of the first round.
While the expectation was for OKC to win this series in four games, the ability for the Suns to provide resistance would come down to their own execution.
So when they failed to take care of the ball, rebound and knock down shots early, this one was over in a hurry.
OKC led by 25 for less than 18 minutes in for a portion of a first half the Suns shot 30% in. After they managed to hang around for the next quarter-ish, things got out of hand for an irrelevant closing 18 minutes.
Points off turnovers were 34-2 for Oklahoma City. The Suns only forced eight and committed 19. OKC’s edge in those categories all year showed out in a major way, while it took one it normally doesn’t on the offensive glass by beating Phoenix at its own game 19-14.
“We have 19 turnovers, and they had 19 offensive rebounds too, so that’s a recipe for disaster for us,” Suns guard Devin Booker said.
“We have 19 turnovers, and they had 19 offensive boards too, so that’s a recipe for disaster for us.”
Devin Booker on the Suns’ struggles vs. the Thunder in Game 1. pic.twitter.com/0ED9Mly3Vu
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) April 19, 2026
Oklahoma City is now 9-0 in the first round of the last three seasons. Its average margin of victory is now 19.6.
Despite how foreboding that is, each series featured a pair of single-digit games. In 2024, New Orleans led by two with under two minutes to go in Game 1 and held a five-point edge at less than 8:30 remaining in Game 4. Last year, Memphis blew a 29-point lead in Game 3 and had the ball trailing by two with just over a minute left in Game 4.
No one has been able to take advantage of the opportunity the Thunder have presented to make these series more competitive.
The Suns do not appear equipped to do that.
The biggest worry with this series for Phoenix was its offense. Even when things were rolling a few months in, it was susceptible to significant lulls. Part of that is the decision-making of Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green with the ball, where tunnel vision, bad shots and an inability to funnel ball movement take center stage. So, those guys making the looks they are taking is a must when they are not generating quality possessions.
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If you do that against this Thunder team, they will run away with the game, no matter when the lulls take place.
Phoenix scored 10 points across 11:20 from the mid-first quarter to the second, a 31-10 onslaught from Oklahoma City to lead by 25 less than 18 minutes into the game. That was part of a 3-for-20 shooting stretch for the Suns.
Suns center Oso Ighodaro talked about how OKC is a shift-heavy team, where it relies on over-helping through the backbone of exceptional team defense to make extra recoveries.
If you don’t force the Thunder to make those in-sync recoveries, it’s going to be a long day like Sunday was.
“I don’t think our ball movement was great. … We can’t iso this team,” Suns head coach Jordan Ott said. “We can’t hold the ball against this team. You can’t take tough 2s all night against this team.”
The Suns hurt themselves by turning the ball over in live-ball scenarios, meaning the Thunder could get in transition off the mistakes. On top of that, some of the decisions by Brooks and Green were quick, leaving Phoenix’s defense unset once the shot clanged or a turnover occurred.
The Thunder produced an efficient 15 points off the Suns’ seven turnovers up to that point of the mid-second quarter. Brooks was 1-for-8 and Green 2-for-6. Neither had an assist with three turnovers.
Even worse, Phoenix let one of the worst rebounding teams in the league snag seven in the first quarter. Oklahoma City clearly saw a matchup with a bad defensive rebounding team as an opportune moment to give perimeter players more freedom to crash the glass. The Suns were ill-prepared, failing to box out and match up properly to gang-rebound.
First-round pick Khaman Maluach got a brief appearance due to this and looked like a rookie playing against the best team in the world. Ott made sure to emphasize that Maluach didn’t make much of a difference in the rebounding disparity, as he understands by now the plea from the fanbase for him to play.
The Suns have no solutions with their flawed roster. This is now the playoffs, where all shortcomings get exploited eventually. It didn’t take long for them to get exposed given this first-round draw.
OKC can toss its superstar cast of on-ball defenders at Booker and Green to limit downhill pressure, while overextending toward Booker with the limited threats elsewhere. If Phoenix can’t hit 3s or get supernova performances from its scoring trio, this will be just as ugly the rest of the way.
Brooks shot 6-of-22 for 18 points with seven rebounds, two assists and two turnovers. Green shot 6-of-16 for 17 points with five rebounds, one assist and three turnovers.
Another red flag was that Booker played pretty well. He was efficient through physicality and his three giveaways are an OK number considering the increased bodies he sees. Booker was 8-of-17 for 23 points with six rebounds, two assists and three turnovers.
Phoenix amounted to 16 assists and 19 turnovers.
The most impressive part of this Oklahoma City performance and a major concern for Phoenix should be this required no individual Thunder excellence offensively. A pair of back-to-back 3s from terrific reserve guard Ajay Mitchell during OKC’s early surge was really the only time it felt like a Thunder scorer was heating up.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points and was 5-for-18, with a 15-of-17 mark at the foul line. Again, when it comes to weaknesses getting maximized by opponents, Phoenix’s terrible on-ball defense with limited rim protection now has the MVP and downhill king to try to contain. That’s going to result in a lot of free throws.
The 27.8% field goal percentage for Gilgeous-Alexander was the lowest for his playoff career out of the 44 he took double-digit shots in. He added seven assists and zero turnovers.
Jalen Williams provided 22 points on 9-of-15 with seven rebounds, six assists and one turnover.
Jordan Goodwin left the game in the late first half and was later ruled out after re-aggravating his left calf. He only missed the last two games of the regular season initially before starting for both play-in games, a return that seemed pretty quick given how calf injuries typically hinder players.
Beyond the fact that Goodwin is the engine for the team’s culture, his primary task in this series is to defend Gilgeous-Alexander, so losing him for any more time would be even more costly. Brooks handled most of that 1-on-1 matchup the rest of the way.
Like the play-in victory on Friday, Grayson Allen (left hamstring soreness) did not play despite getting listed as available.
Mark Williams (left foot soreness) missed his second straight game after aggravating that foot in the second half of Tuesday’s play-in loss. Ighodaro started in his place again, while the backup 5 rotation consisted mostly of small-ball with Haywood Highsmith, who looked outmatched for this matchup.
There’s no information on Williams’ status, meaning if this is just a day-to-day designation or he has a chance of missing the whole series. The questionable listings on the injury report bode well, but the Suns also listed Allen as available on Friday and then didn’t play him, so who knows anymore.
The Ryan Dunn minutes did not go well, so that’s another reason for Rasheer Fleming to break into the rotation for Game 2. OKC can force Dunn, Highsmith and others to make plays off the dribble and that’s where even more turnovers happened. Fleming in that position at least provides more length in rebounding scenarios and more athleticism for OKC’s ball-handlers to deal with, even if he would probably give it away too.
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