OKLAHOMA CITY — Using a 34-24 fourth-quarter advantage, the Oklahoma City Thunder completed the 15-point comeback win against the Phoenix Suns, 124-120.
The packed Sunday crowd — which was the largest of the season for OKC at a 98.3% capacity rate — enjoyed a classic that saw scoring machines Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Devin Booker duel it out.
Both scored 40 points — Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 40 points and Booker finished with 46 points.
As the Thunder rallied late in the second half, the crowd’s cheers grew louder to near deafening levels. Considering how pivotal this game — and really, every game from here on out — is, it was an appropriate full house against a team with championship aspirations.
“The crowd was the difference in the game tonight,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “That was huge. We need that every night. Every home game from here on out. They were massive.”
It seems like Josh Giddey agrees with that too.
“That was the loudest (crowd) I’ve heard it in my two years here,” Giddey said.
The pinnacle of the crowd’s cheers came at the 5:46 mark of the fourth quarter. An Isaiah Joe 3 pushed OKC’s lead to 108-102. The crowd erupted in a reaction that rivals the Loud City era.
After trailing the Suns 100-90 with 10 minutes left in the game, the Thunder went on an 18-2 run to give themselves their first lead since the first score.
“We got on the doorstep a couple of times and then they kept extending the lead,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “… We got off to a tough start in the fourth (quarter) but we strung a couple together and swung some momentum… I thought the key to that type of win is staying alive long enough for when the game turns.”
That’s exactly what the Thunder did.
Trailing by 12 points heading into halftime, the Thunder snapped out of their sleepy play in the second half as they outscored the Suns, 67-51.
With Deandre Ayton out, the Thunder feasted inside of the paint and outscored the Suns, 56-40. The Thunder also enjoyed a significant free-throw advantage as they outshot the Suns from the charity stripe, 29-of-36 (80.6%) to 17-of-24 (70.8%). Gilgeous-Alexander led the way in that department with a career-high tying 19 attempts.
The Thunder have now won four of their last five games and continue to strengthen their playoff odds. An impressive home win against a Suns squad sans Kevin Durant will definitely help with that cause.
Even without Durant, the Suns had a legitimate chance to win their third consecutive game against the Thunder due to their other prolific scorer.
In the loss, Booker was fantastic for the Suns. As mentioned earlier, Booker scored 46 points on efficient 18-of-28 shooting. Booker singlehandedly kept the Suns in the game as he scored 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Regardless of who the Thunder threw at Booker, he continued to torch them. In three games against OKC this season, Booker is averaging 38.3 points on 61.1% shooting.
Former Thunder guard Chris Paul also finished with 14 points and 13 assists. In his return to OKC since being traded, Darius Bazley logged in three points in seven minutes.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.