The Phoenix Suns had 12 games remaining coming into Sunday. Phoenix was also holding firmly on the fourth seed in the Western Conference and are bound for another playoff appearance.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Oklahoma City Thunder, however, can not say the same. Even with that, OKC is in the midst of developing younger talent while giving contenders a hard time in the regular season.
The Suns are no exception to that, with the Thunder putting up a decent fight throughout Sunday.
OKC kicked that fight into overdrive against Phoenix, winning 124-120.
Booker Makes his Claim
After a less-than-fashionable performance against the Orlando Magic, Devin Booker was eager to set the tone on Sunday.
Booker’s 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting against Orlando was quickly erased by a 46-point performance against OKC. He also shot 18-of-28 from the field.
With both Deandre Ayton and Kevin Durant out, Booker’s ball-sharing abilities were put on hold. Such was evident in the first half, after Booker finished with 12 points in the first quarter. He then went on to have a 17-point third quarter. He shot 7-of-13 from the field in the third quarter as well.
Moving the Rock
The Suns are averaging 27.1 assist per game coming into Sunday. That number was well on its way of being broken as the fourth quarter got underway.
Chris Paul was already up to 10 assists at the start of the quarter, with Phoenix being up to 25.
Though Cameron Payne hadn’t been as effective scoring-wise, he was also able to contribute six assist to the total.
Moving the ball efficiently against the younger, antsy team in the Thunder proved to be successful.
Yet as failed opportunities became a norm in the second half, the Suns couldn’t use their same formula of success to win.
The Thunder went on a 18-2 run in the latter part of the third quarter going into the fourth. Phoenix was outscored by 16 combined points in the third and fourth quarter.
With the loss, the Suns move to 38-33 on the season, pushing them closer to the 37-34 Los Angeles Clippers in fifth place.
Phoenix will have a rest in between games, with the next meeting being on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
