The Oklahoma City Thunder opens up the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday afternoon. OKC is heavily favored to win the series, and a sweep seems more likely than not. Still, Phoenix should not be underestimated.
Despite losing a close game to the Portland Trail Blazers in the first Play-In game, the Suns dominated the Golden State Warriors on Friday to earn the 8-seed. OKC won just 3 of the 5 matchups with the Suns in the regular season, the most recent a bloodbath of a win by Phoenix, but neither team had their primary rotations available.
As reigning champs, the Thunder has a target on its back. When you’re on top, everybody wants to be the team to knock you off the throne, but the Suns are going to have their hands full. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is all but confirmed to win his second consecutive MVP, Chet Holmgren looks like he’s ready to make noise in the postseason, and everybody should be completely healthy at this point, most notably Jalen Williams.
Oklahoma City has what is being labeled as an incredibly easy path to at least the Western Conference Finals, so it doesn’t really matter how well the Thunder plays in Game 1. Anything less than perfect will be criticized. Fortunately, OKC might be the best in the league at drowning out the noise and entering every game with a ‘0-0 mindset,’ and opening up with a convincing win would be nice.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 2:30 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: ABC
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Phoenix Suns Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Jalen Williams
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Suns
- PG: Devin Booker
- SG: Jalen Green
- SF: Jordan Goodwin
- PF: Dillon Brooks
- C: Mark Williams
Injury Report
Thunder
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
Suns
- Grayson Allen (strained left hamstring) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Mark Williams (left foot soreness) is QUESTIONABLE.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 39-21 against the Suns (22-7 at home, 17-14 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder have won the season series against the Suns 10 times, tied once, and lost 5 times.
- OKC went 3-2 against Phoenix in the regular season (2-1 at home, 1-1 on the road).