Player grades for the Thunder’s 118-110 win over Suns.
Hitting a spin move on Grayson Allen, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was called for a costly offensive foul as Allen covered his face in pain. The call warranted a review to see if it fit the criteria of a flagrant.
The replays ruled it didn’t as Allen’s nose was hit with the back of Gilgeous-Alexander’s head as he spun around. After it stayed a common foul, OKC challenged the call and won. A pair of reviews turned an offensive foul into an extra possession.
Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down a jumper after the lengthy process and extinguished any hopes of a comeback for the Phoenix Suns in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 118-110 win.
“We were able to get the start under control pretty quickly, obviously that was good,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “That was an avalanche in the third and fourth. They really got into a groove there…
“I thought we showed great resilience in the fourth to climb back into it when we went down after all that.”
The back-and-forth contest saw three lead changes and two ties in dramatic fashion. There were extreme swings catapulted by lengthy runs from both sides. During points in this game, the Thunder had a game-high 24-point lead and the Suns possessed a 13-point lead.
The first happened in the opening minutes. After trailing 17-4 following the first six minutes, the Thunder rattled off 10 consecutive points to get out of the early double-digit hole.
The Thunder — surprisingly enough — had a 28-24 lead after the first frame. The second quarter saw OKC carry over the momentum it built from the first period with a 38-point effort. After trailing by 13 points, the Thunder finished the first half on a 62-35 run to enter halftime with a 66-52 lead.
As the Thunder built a 24-point advantage, it felt like the Suns let go of the rope. The game was on its way to being meaningless for the remainder of the second half. Instead, Phoenix went on a 23-2 run to enter the fourth quarter with a manageable 89-85 deficit.
The Suns continued to stifle the Thunder and totaled a massive 39-8 second-half run to flip the score and command a six-point lead less than four minutes into the final frame.
Like the beginning of the game, the Thunder couldn’t buy a bucket for a massive stretch of the second half. After that though, OKC suddenly went on another massive run of its own to close out this road win with a 23-8 six-minute stretch.
It’s only fitting the final points scored were on Gilgeous-Alexander’s jumper following the overturned offensive foul. After that basket, OKC had a nine-point lead with less than three minutes left.
The Thunder shot 48% from the field and went 9-of-31 (29%) from 3. They had 16 steals and forced 22 turnovers, which led to 31 points — a massive advantage for OKC considering it outscored Phoenix by 22 points in that area.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with a near 35-point triple-double. Jalen Williams had 22 points and three steals. All five Thunder starters scored double-digit points.
Meanwhile, the Suns — who were without Devin Booker due to an ankle sprain — shot 44% from the field and went 14-of-39 (35.9%) from 3. They dished out 26 assists on 40 baskets and outrebounded OKC, 50-41.
Despite losing the rebounding battle, Daigneault said that’s a sacrifice they’re willing to make to play their brand of basketball. It’s worked considering the Thunder have been one of the best teams in the league despite being one of the worst rebounding squads.
“The trade-offs that we gain with the way we play, the lineups we play, generally have outweighed that,” Daigneault said. “… A lot of nights we lose the rebounding battle. As long as the benefit continues to outweigh the cost, we’re going to continue to accept the trade-offs. We’re not going to be a perfect team.”
Bradley Beal led the way for the Suns with 31 points on 10-of-14 shooting, six assists and seven turnovers. Kevin Durant tallied 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Jusuf Nurkic had 14 points and a career-high 31 rebounds — which is also a Suns record.
Overall, it was a wild contest that saw the pendulum swing in extreme ways. Both teams went on several massive runs throughout the contest and the Thunder served the final one and survived for the impressive road win.
“We want to be a team that competes fully during those and then grows from them regardless of what side we’re on,” Daigneault said. “Our teams always had great resilience though. I have great respect for our guys as competitors.
“I thought our resilience was on display tonight. I thought our poise was on display in the fourth, they did a great job.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.
