Phoenix Suns’ top five Jae Crowder # 99 Deandre Ayton # 22, Chris Paul # 3, Devin Booker # 1 and Jevon Carter # 4 after a three-point offense during the first half of the NBA game against Oklahoma shot. City Thunder at Phoenix Suns Arena on April 02, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns played as if they remember what happened when they last played the Oklahoma City Thunder.
A loss at the end of January put the Suns at 8-8, leading to a rally from head coach Monty Williams in his media session.
The Suns could not play away inferior teams this season, but Friday night was not one of those nights. They crushed the Thunder 140-103.
Phoenix led 43-13 through the first quarter. It was a season high for points and the lowest season for points in the first quarter. It was the first 30-point difference by a quarter in franchise history, according to Basketball Reference, and the 13th time in league history, a team was at least 30 higher after the first 12 minutes.
After the game was tied 5-5, the Suns went on a 38-8 run to end the quarter. At one point, it was a 19-0 jump.
The defense was everywhere in a Thunder (20-28) group that did not have bodies as they were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley and Mike Muescala. But even with the key names missing Wednesday, the Thunder beat the Toronto Raptors, something that was certainly highlighted in preparation.
OKC shot 4-of-25 (16.0%) from the field in the first quarter with six turnovers.
Offensively, the tone was immediately set by the Suns’ two All-Stars. Chris Paul had a rare opening where he wanted to establish himself as a scorer and shot 3-for-3 from the field, while Devin Booker had 16 points in the opening period.
While some storms would have come from the Thunder, Phoenix (34-14) did a good job of restoring it when that was the case. Oklahoma City trailed by 18 in the second and third quarters, but in the third stage Williams called a timeout and then his team responded with a run of 21-12 to extend the lead to 27 .
“I like the reaction in the mess,” Williams said. ‘Our guys are very remorseful when things are not done properly, or when we know we can play better. If we get such a reaction or reaction to what is happening on the floor, we usually have good production in our favor when we step back on the track. ”
It was a full fourth quarter garbage, and it’s not something Phoenix Suns Arena has been accustomed to for the past decade.
Booker had 32 points, two rebounds, five assists and no turnover in 30 minutes. Paul added 17 points, five rebounds, 12 assists and three steals on perfect 8-of-8 shooting in 22 minutes.
Paul had a strange collision with former Suns guard Ty Jerome in his last play in the fourth quarter. When he got around a screen, he let his head go into Jerome’s shoulder. After the hit, Paul immediately grabs his right shoulder and comes out of the game. He was watched by coaches on the bench and struggled for a few minutes before looking good.
– Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) 3 April 2021
These are definitely heartbreaking moments in the Suns’ second half of the season and it’s worth keeping his name on the injury report ahead of Monday’s clash with the Houston Rockets.
Second-year forward Cam Johnson played just one minute in the first quarter before coming out due to a cut above his left eye. Johnson got stitches in the locker room and then came back in the second half to score 17 points. He said it was strange to be alive in a match and watch it afterwards, which includes the coaches telling him what happened on TV while he had his eyes closed during certain points of stitching.
Booker talked about the Suns having to learn through experience to grow in certain areas. Wednesday against an exhausted Chicago Bulls team was the first quarter 39-37 Suns. This time Friday the offensive production was there again, but this time the defense was too.
“I think it’s the most important part of the moment to get better, to keep getting better at achieving our goals for later in the row,” he said. “We always say we are not playing against our opponent, we are playing against ourselves and in what can we get better. Even after the first term was 30, everyone conveyed the message of ‘Let’s keep improving and let’s work on our well. ‘”