I don’t smoke.
But Sunday night’s Suns’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Mortgage Matchup Center was so satisfying, I was tempted to light up.
For a minute in the second quarter, it looked like the cold-shooting Suns were in store for a beatdown similar to the 49-point thrashing the Thunder handed them in the NBA Cup quarterfinals less than a month ago. Kenrich Williams hit a three with 3:06 left in the 2nd quarter to extend the defending champs’ lead to 18.
But unlike that night in OKC, the Suns responded by closing the quarter on an 11-0 run. Then they started the third on a 9-2 blitz that tied the game. The next 21 or so minutes were just awesome — big shot-making from likely sources like Dillon Brooks and Devin Booker for the Suns and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams of the Thunder. But the Suns’ advantage turned out to be heroic offense from unlikely sources Jordan Goodwin and Ryan Dunn. The duo combined to hit 7-of-11 three-pointers in the second half, keeping the Suns close enough to set up a couple of massive threes from Brooks — the second of which put the Suns up four with 37 seconds remaining.
The Thunder would respond — because that’s what championship teams do. Chet Holmgren got an offensive rebound and hit a 14-foot turnaround jumper on the baseline to pull OKC to within two. Then Brooks committed a crucial turnover on an inbounds play after a timeout, which opened the door for Williams to tie the game with a 10-footer with 8.7 seconds left.
The Suns put the ball in Booker’s hands to win it after a timeout, and for the first time in a long time, Booker nailed the shot — a gorgeous step-back three, winning the game for the Suns and fortifying Dan Bickley’s place as the pre-eminent soothsayer in Valley sports.
This was the grittiest win of the season for a team that’s rougher than P60 sandpaper. For about 21 minutes of the first half, the Suns looked out of sorts and a little intimidated by Oklahoma City’s intense defensive pressure. But there was no blinking by the home team in the second half as they earned one of their most memorable and delicious wins in quite some time.
And if they can find a way to topple another team that’s given them fits in the Houston Rockets on Monday, I may blow right past the postgame cigarette and into a big, fat victory cigar.
Follow @Vincemarotta
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