Suns unable to pounce on vulnerable Thunder in loss

Even with golden opportunities like Monday’s depleted Oklahoma City Thunder roster, the Phoenix Suns are not functionating nearly well enough at the start of the year to be able to capitalize on them.

Monday’s 125-114 loss was definitive and also not the type of growth moment it could have been.

OKC was in Game No. 1 of its new world, still reeling after Jalen Williams broke his leg and dislocated his ankle the night before, while also finding out Cason Wallace tore the labrum in his left shoulder.

On top of that, Chet Holmgren (right leg tendinitis) was the third starter out. OKC trusted its depth and recent draft picks when trading Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins for second apron concerns, but 2024 first-round pick Nikola Topic (low back surgery) and 2025 first-round pick Thomas Sorber (right knee surgery) remained out too. Both were supposed to be ready for training camp.

That thrusted rookies Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz into more prominent roles on Monday. And to make matters worse for the Thunder, Alex Caruso also sprained his right ankle in the second quarter and did not return.

To put it simply, the Suns possessed the more talented pool of available players on Monday. But you couldn’t even come close to telling that or how shorthanded the Thunder were.

A competitive first half was decided by OKC’s strong closes to quarters, a signature trait of the Thunder and a crippling factor in the four-game sweep of Phoenix. It was a combined 29-15 Thunder edge in the last 7:01 of the first two quarters for a first half OKC conveniently led by 14.

The game stayed around that range for the second half until Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell both got into foul trouble in the late third quarter. That eventually compromised OKC’s offense, cutting the deficit down from 17 to 10, before it rose to 14 entering the fourth quarter.

Mitchell had checked back in, and then kept getting wherever he wanted, even after tweaking his right ankle and limping around the floor. He did all that while the Suns’ offense stalled out, ending the night.

Devin Booker took only three shots in the first half, his lowest total in a regular season first half that he stayed healthy through since Dec. 2020, per Stathead. Oklahoma City has been his unsolvable opponent for many years, but even if he was seeing triple-teams every possession, the number can’t be that low. Lots of the Thunder’s defensive coverage gave Booker a brief-to-extended window for a pull-up 3, which he always declined.

This is an issue that was easy to see coming, one that is further multiplied by the Suns’ lack of reliable catch-and-shoot threats around him.

Booker had two points coming into the final frame and ended up at three on 1 of 7 with seven assists and no turnovers. That is the first time he’s played a full game and scored in single digits since Nov. 2023 and he hasn’t failed to reach four points in a full game since his rookie season 11 years ago.

It is totally unacceptable for how badly his team needs him. Again, it is totally unacceptable. One more time! Totally! Unacceptable!

With that said, look no further than the face of the franchise as to how this feels like watching a new team trying to figure each other out. He was clearly trying to be more of a facilitator and playmaker for the offense. Booker was doing a great job at it while also taking care of the ball. That’s primarily how the Suns managed 18-for-50 (36%) volume on 3s. But he has to be able to switch back and forth between those roles, like he did on Saturday based on the coverages he was seeing.

His team is also not helping him. Booker is not one for animated body language when his teammates do something wrong, but after he got a high double-team and swung it to the wing for Dillon Brooks, a cut from Jalen Green in the corner canceled out what would have been a wide-open corner 3 for him. Booker raised his arms in confusion as Green cut, but it didn’t matter because Brooks shot the ball anyway. After a Thunder bucket the next trip down, he showed similar exasperation walking to the bench.

Booker came out of that timeout forcing a bad shot that he airballed.

His on-court frustration has been evident through three games and a new development. Whether it’s that or something else affecting his ability to be a high-level scorer and playmaker consistently, he must get past it or else this team is cooked. He’s too good of a player for these things to turn him into a total non-factor as a scorer.

Every Miles Bridges mental mistake, for which there were plenty of in the third consecutive game, hurts more considering the type of concrete presence Phoenix requires in his role. He’s been the largest negative on the floor in the Suns rotation, and yes that opinion holds even after he was much more impactful in the second half on Monday and finished with 17 points (7 of 17), eight rebounds, four assists and three turnovers.

His decision-making with the ball is poor at the moment, and that was not expected based on him grading as a great assist-to-turnover guy over the course of his career. Add on the bad shots with the zoning out on defense as a below average shooter/on-ball defender and you’ve got real issues. The conversations about a starting lineup change revolve around Jalen Green, but through this first week, Bridges’ spot is the more obvious tweak.

It has also been a struggle for Dillon Brooks. There was not enough made about how he thrived as a secondary scoring option, sometimes primary, and how he would now have to revert back to an ancillary scoring role. He’s messing up in those similar positions as Bridges, and on defense, that’s just unacceptable with his pedigree for that end. It was there in chunks of last year, and that was more tolerable when he provided an efficient 20 points per game. If you strictly watched him off the ball on defense in this trio of contests, you’d never peg him as a culture-driver.

Brooks ended up shooting 4 of 14 for 18 points with five rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers.

After the Suns used small-ball for 17 minutes without Oso Ighodaro (right oblique strain) on Saturday, it was another 18 on Monday.

Khaman Maluach was out there for 28 on Saturday and followed it up with 26 on Monday. Entering the year, it was going to be surprising to see him ever go north of 25, even if injuries occurred. There is some element of letting him learn through the fire, and it’s going to make Maluach better. It’s also going to be real hard to win if he’s playing that much, even in better outings like he had on Monday. He was 5-for-10 from the field for 12 points with seven rebounds, one assist and four turnovers.

The Suns were only -2 with Maluach out there, so the small-ball lineups weren’t productive.

This was a great Green game. He was very active in seeking out drives and shot 8 of 13 for 20 points with four rebounds, four assists and a turnover.

Gilgeous-Alexander (26 points, 11-of-18) and Mitchell (30 points, 10-of-16) combined for 56 points on 62% shooting.

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