Suns Comeback Against Thunder to Remain Undefeated
The Oklahoma City Thunder faced the 5-0 Phoenix Suns in Orlando.
The Suns were continuing their battle for the 8th seed in the Western Conference after the Pelicans and Kings from eliminated from competing in the playoffs.
Oklahoma City were missing many key players. Steven Adams was out due to a lower leg contusion, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was ruled out due to a calf contusion. Danilo Gallinari and Nerlens Noel were both out due to ankle injuries and Dennis Schroder who left the bubble for the birth of his child and has not yet returned.
The Suns were missing center Deandre Ayton at the start of the game due to a missed COVID-19 test on Sundayy, but he arrived at the game in the second quarter.
Oklahoma City were up 37-23 at the end of the first quarter before the Suns scored a season high 42 points in the second quarter to be up 65-64 at the half.
The second half came with domination from the Suns. They outscored the Thunder 33-17 in the third quarter and 30-20 in the fourth.
The Thunder started Chris Paul at Point Guard, Abdel Nader at the Shooting Guard, Luguentz Dort and Darius Bazley at the Forward positions and Mike Muscala at Center.
The Suns started Ricky Rubio at the Point Guard and Devin Booker at the Shooting Guard. Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson started at the Forward Positions. Dario Šarić started at Center.
Mikal Bridges played 29 minutes and shot 6-14 from the field and 5-8 from deep. Bridges scored 18 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, got 1 assist and 1 steal. Cam Johnson scored 18 points, grabbed 4 rebounds along with 3 assists in 32 minutes. Cameron Payne played 33 minutes and scored 14 points, got 5 assists and 6 rebounds.
Deandre Ayton came off the bench after he arrived at the game. Ayton went on to end the game with 10 points and 6 boards after 17 minutes.
Devin Booker lead the Suns in their comeback. Booker played 29 minutes and shot 9-17 from the field and 3-7 from 3-point range. Booker shot a perfect 14-14 from the free throw line and scored 35 points. Booker grabbed 5 boards and dished out 4 assists.
This was Booker’s 90th 30+ point game which tied him for most 30+ point games in Suns franchise history at 23 years old.
Rookie, Darius Bazley scored 22 points on 50% shooting from the field and from deep. He grabbed a double-double as he pulled in 10 boards. He got 3 assists and 1 steal. Andre Roberson shot 3-7 from the field and scored 7 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and got 1 assist in 13 minutes.
Hamidou Diallo came off the bench and scored 9 points on 4-13 shooting. He got 1 rebound, 1 assist and 2 steals.
Chris Paul played 24 minutes and shot 3-9 from the field and scored 14 points. He dished out 7 assists, pulled in 5 rebounds and got 2 steals.
The Suns won the game and stay undefeated in the seeding games.
The Suns next play against the Philadelphia 76ers on August 11th at 4:00 PM EST.
The Thunder next play against the Miami Heat on Thursday, August 12th at 8:00 PM EST.
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