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Suns use last-second free throws to pick up 1st Summer League victory, a 100-99 win over Thunder

© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

David Roddy hit three free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining to give the Phoenix Suns their first win of Summer League action, a 100-99 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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OKC, who was once up 11, fell to 0-3 with the loss. This win comes after the Suns (1-2) lost a back-and-forth battle yesterday to the Indiana Pacers. Tonight, they were on the winning side of one.

“It just shows resiliency through this team,” Roddy said on NBA TV after the win. “We started off 0-2, had a heartbreaker against Indiana yesterday, so we just wanted to bounce back and really lock in on defense again.”

Roddy, the only player on the summer squad who was on the actual Suns team last season, finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting (4-of-8 from 3) to go along with six rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block. He scored six points in the final 20 seconds of the game and credited the tape on his wrist, which had two birds drawn on it for his game-winning free throws after he drew a foul on a 3-pointer while trying to win the game with a 3.

“This tape on my hand, it has two birds on it from Matthew 6:26, and it basically talks about how Jesus takes care of the birds, that Jesus is gonna take care of me,” Roddy said. “I had confidence in that, just through my faith, and again, I just got another opportunity, and we won.”

Isaiah Wong, who starred in college at Miami from 2019-23, had his first big game for Phoenix, scoring 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting and spearheading a fourth-quarter comeback. Boo Buie, the all-time leading scorer at Northwestern, notched his first double-digit scoring game of the summer for Phoenix, recording 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting (4-of-10 from 3) as well as three assists and three steals. Michael Devoe had another big game for the Suns, finishing with 16 points off the bench.

Here’s how the three Suns rookies who are already signed fared in their third game, highlighted by two-way Baylor product Jalen Bridges:

  • Ryan Dunn: 5 PTS (2-6 FG, 1-3 3PT), 3 REB, 1 AST, 2 BLK, 1 STL in 26 MIN
  • Oso Ighodaro: 5 PTS (2-4 FG), 8 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL in 30 MIN
  • Jalen Bridges: 11 PTS (4-6 FG, 3-5 3PT), +3 in 13 MIN

Overall, the Suns shot 49.2% from the field and were an impressive 16-of-37 (43.2%) from deep. They were able to get the victory despite OKC one-upping them from 3 and converting 20-of-36 attempts from deep, good for an incredible 55.6% as a team.

The Thunder had five players in double figures, led by Buddy Boeheim, who had 20 points, six rebounds and four assists. Hunter Maldonado posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 assists. One area that differentiated the two teams the most was turnovers, as the Suns had 12 compared to 20 for OKC.

Game Flow

The Suns started the night on an 11-3 run highlighted by two-straight deep 3s by Roddy. OKC responded with a 15-2 run. The Thunder relied on their 3-point shooting to take a 28-22 lead heading into second quarter, as they went 6-of-9 from deep in the first. Roddy had eight points to lead Phoenix in the first quarter, while Miller Kopp had a game-high nine for OKC.

Oklahoma City continued this 3-point barrage in the second quarter, leading 55-47 at halftime and shooting 12-for-23 (52.2%) from 3. Buie heated up for Phoenix to keep it in it, going on a streak of eight-straight points midway through the quarter. Devoe had a team-high 11 points at the half, while Roddy had eight points, three assists and two rebounds. Boehein recorded a game-high 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting (all from 3) to go along with four rebounds and four assists at the half for Thunder.

Dunn and Bridges stood out for Phoenix in the third quarter. Dunn had two early blocks, then cashed a 3, his first of the Summer League after missing his first eight attempts, all in the first three minutes of the half. Bridges then had two-straight catch-and-shoot 3s from opposite corners with around four minutes to go in the quarter. The Suns could still never take the lead, as OKC was up 78-71 heading into the fourth. Devoe had a team-high 16 points to go along with three rebounds and two steals for the Suns.

Phoenix came ready to play in the closing period. Buie tied the game at 81 with a deep 3 with 7:14 to go, then Roddy gave Phoenix an 83-81 lead a few possessions later, its first lead since the first quarter. Overall, the Suns started the fourth quarter 16-3, which included an 11-0 run on the back half of it. After this stretch, OKC hit two quick 3s to tie the game at 87 with 3:24 left.

It was back-and-forth from this point on. With under a minute left, OKC was up 94-91, but then Wong made an and-one layup to tie the game with 35.8 seconds remaining. Jaden Shackelford responded with a 3 for the Thunder, then Buie found Roddy open at the top of the key and he cashed a 3 of his own to tie the game once again at 97 with 18 seconds on the clock.

Keyontae Johnson then posted up Wong and hit a fadeaway inside the paint to put the Thunder up 99-97 with only 2.1 seconds left. The Suns called timeout and Roddy was fouled on a 3-point attempt from the right wing off the baseline out-of-bounds play and cashed all three free throws.

Top Plays for Suns

(In order of when they happened)

Next Up

The Summer Suns are back in action Friday (July 19) at 1:00 p.m. MST against the Milwaukee Bucks (0-3). The game will be televised on NBA TV and ESPN+.

Summer Suns fall to 0-2 with 98-94 loss in close battle with Pacers

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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau

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