The Thunder regains its first place in the West, tied with the Wolves who have the tie-breaker. Despite the absence of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the OKC players had no difficulty in largely repelling the Suns (128-103) in full, and thus posted the same record as the Wolves (51 victories – 22 defeats) at the top of the conference.
This success is the result of a solid collective performance. Every member of the starting five finished with 11 points or more, and two other men off the bench contributed at least 14 points. Another symbol, the 33 assists for 49 converted shots, the majority of which were good shots obtained behind the arc (16/30).
Giddey raises his game
With his 23 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, Josh Giddey was the main contributor of this evening which began to swing in favor of his team in the second quarter. On balls transmitted by the Australian, Isaiah Joe converted twice at 3-points at the end of the period, and the Thunder returned to the locker room with more than 10 points in advance (70-59).
Already struggling defensively, the Suns had a very difficult start to the second half. Here again, Giddey was the spark, accompanied by a forgotten Luguentz Dort behind the arc in transition. The locals went 10-0 to suddenly take off with the score (84-63) while the visitors remained silent in attack for several minutes, like this possession where the Suns missed three outside shots in a row, despite capturing two offensive rebounds.
The Suns revolt? It will not take place. Having to face too many confident players to control, Frank Vogel's men will not be able to put the gap into question at all, even if only to get back below the 20 point mark. This Thunder was too sure of his basketball, fluid in attack and strong in defense, to falter. As a result, the gap increased to 29 units.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– Josh Giddey keeps the pace. The absence of “SGA” requires other OKC players to raise their level of play. Josh Giddey understands this very well. Last night, by playing a lot near the circle, the Australian came close to a triple-double and confirmed his current good form. For three games, he has averaged more than 26 points, more than double his production over the season. He admits to having changed his approach compared to teams who ignore him in defense: “ Probably in the first 50 matches I used to overthink everything […] I've changed my mindset since then, I tell myself that if teams leave me open, I'm going to punish them, make them pay and force them to change their defensive scheme. »
– Inconsistent “road trip” for the Suns. Difficult to read the Suns' performance at the moment. After starting with an authoritarian victory on the Spurs floor, they lost the following match on the same field, despite the absence of Victor Wembanyama. The following ? A very solid victory at the reigning champion, the Nuggets, then this heavy defeat at OKC despite, once again, the absence of the best player opposite. Arizona players finish this series of away matches against New Orleans on Monday. With what face from the Suns?
How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
