Thunder Beat League's Best Team — Kind Of
After their disappointing loss in the 2021 NBA Finals, the Phoenix Suns returned this season with something to prove. And boy, have they.
Phoenix entered Sunday's matchup in Oklahoma City with a 62-15 record, by far the best in the NBA and fully 7 games better than the Western Conference No. 2 seed, the Memphis Grizzlies. With its playoff position secure, Phoenix announced it would be sitting some of its best players on Sunday including Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. After all, a Chris Paul-led Suns team should still be able to handle the 23-54 Oklahoma City Thunder, right?
Wrong.
Oklahoma City got contributions from throughout its thin lineup, pulling away in the second half to earn a surprising 117-96 victory over the defending Western Conference champions. Several players turned in career nights as the Thunder – playing without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Luguentz Dort, Tre Mann, Kenrich Williams, Mike Muscala and several other key pieces continue to play hard despite missing the playoffs this year.
Phoenix started the game in control, jumping out to a 17-5 lead through half a quarter in what looked to be a long night for OKC. But the Thunder proceeded to go on a run of their own, coming back to 20-18 after 3-pointers from Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Theo Maledon and Lindy Waters III. Oklahoma City continued to hang tough in the second, tying the game at 49 on a Vit Krejci dunk with two minutes to go. And just when Phoenix thought they were taking a four-point lead into the locker room, Isaiah Roby pulled up for one last shot and drained a 3 at the buzzer to pull Oklahoma City within 53-52 at the half.
It was all the momentum they needed. OKC started the third quarter hot and stayed that way, growing a lead that ballooned as high as 22 points before ending at 21. Olivier Sarr and Aleksej Pokusevski stole the second-half show; Sarr got red-hot from behind the arc and ended up nailing 5 of 6 from 3 on the night.
Sarr finished with 24 points, an amazing shooting performance for a 7-footer not known for his jumper.
Pokusevski earned his first career triple-double Sunday with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. In an up-and-down campaign, Poku is certainly ending the year on a high note.
The Thunder now have just four games remaining, including contests against the Trail Blazers and Lakers that will be important for the team's draft lottery odds.
"The biggest thing for us is, regardless of who puts the uniform on, are we going out there and competing together at a high level?" head coach Mark Daigneault said Monday, adding that his team should be "proud of the progress they've made this year."
"As we go into the offseason, the offseason's long. It's a full offseason for the first time in three seasons. And you've got five months, and that's a long time to make improvements. If our players bring the same sort of mentality to the offseason that they did to the season, we're pretty optimistic that when the guys come back to the gym in September, we'll have taken another step forward despite not playing games."
The Thunder season ends on Sunday, April 10, with an 8:30 p.m. game against the Clippers. The NBA Draft Lottery is May 17, followed by the draft itself on June 23. From there, select Thunder players will head to Vegas for NBA Summer League in July before training camp begins in September.
So here's hoping for a fun final four games; some good luck on lottery night; and another great pick from Sam Presti at the draft. Enjoy the summer and the offseason, Thunder fans, and until this fall: Thunder Up!