Jae Crowder # 99 from Phoenix Suns high fives Deandre Ayton # 22, Chris Paul # 3, Devin Booker # 1 and Jevon Carter # 4 after shooting a three-point free kick in the first half of the NBA game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Phoenix Suns Arena on April 2, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
PHOENIX – The Phoenix Suns played as if they remembered what happened last time they played the Oklahoma City Thunder.
A loss in late January put the Suns at 8-8 and led to a post-game dispute between head coach Monty Williams in his media session.
This season’s Suns had the inability to destroy far inferior teams, but Friday night was not one of those evenings. They broke Thunder 140-103.
Phoenix led 43-13 in the first quarter. This was a maximum season for points and a minimum season for points allowed in the first quarter. It was the first 30-point differential in a quarter of franchise history in Basketball-Reference, and the 13th time in league history that a team has grown by at least 30 in the first 12 minutes.
After the game was tied 5-5, the Suns continued a 38-8 half to close the quarter. At one point it was a 19-0 shootout.
The defense was in a Thunder team (20-28) really without bodies, because they were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley and Mike Muescala. But even with those key names missing on Wednesday, Thunder defeated the Toronto Raptors, which was certainly highlighted in training.
OKC shot 4 of 25 (16.0%) of the field in that first quarter with six turnovers.
Offensively, the tone was immediately set by the two All-Stars of the Suns. Chris Paul had a rare opening in which he sought to impose himself as a scorer, pulling 3-for-3 from the field, while Devin Booker had 16 points in the opening period.
While some increases will come from the Thunder, Phoenix (34-14) did a good job of resetting whenever necessary. Oklahoma City reduced the deficit to 18 in the second and third quarters, but in the third, Williams called for a timeout and then his team responded with a 21-12 round to extend the lead to 27.
“I liked the answer in the discussion,” Williams said. “Our boys have a lot of remorse when things are not done correctly or when we know we can play better. When we receive this type of reaction or response to what is happening on the ground, we usually have a good production in our favor when we return to the field. ”
It was the fourth quarter of garbage time and it’s not something the Phoenix Suns Arena has been celebrating for the past decade.
Booker had 32 points, two rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers in 30 minutes. Paul added 17 points, five rebounds, 12 assists and three steals to a perfect 8-for-8 shot in 22 minutes.
Paul, in his last play of the fourth quarter, had a strange clash with former Suns guard Ty Jerome. Coming around a screen, Paul put his head on Jerome’s shoulder. After the shot, Paul immediately grabbed his right shoulder and left the game. He was watched by coaches on the bench and spent a few minutes playing with her before she looked good.
– Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) April 3, 2021
These are definitely heartbreaking moments in the second half of the Suns season and it will be helpful to keep an eye out for his name in the injury report before Monday’s clash against the Houston Rockets.
Second-year striker 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’s weird to be live in a game and then watch him in the back, which included coaches telling him what happened on TV, while his eyes were closed at certain sewing moments.
Booker talked about the Sun having to learn through experience to grow in certain areas. On Wednesday, against an exhausted Chicago Bulls team, the first quarter score was 39-37 Suns. This time on Friday, the offensive production was there again, but this time the defense was also.
“I think this is the most important part of this moment, it’s to improve, continuing to improve more to achieve our goals for later,” he said. “We always say that we do not play against our opponent, we play against ourselves and in what we can get better. Even after the first quarter reached 30, everyone entered the bank (transmits) the message, “Let’s continue to improve and continue to work on our things. ”