NBA Picks 2/5 – Phoenix Suns @ OKC Thunder

By Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The Phoenix Suns (25-24) visit the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (39-9) tonight at Paycorn Center on ESPN. This is the second of three meetings between the teams. Oklahoma City defeated Phoenix 99-83 at home in the first meeting on Nov. 15. They’ve won four in a row against Phoenix. The Thunder are a 12-point favorite and the total is 226. 

Phoenix is coming off a 121-119 overtime loss at Portland on Monday night. With the Suns trailing 120-117 late in the game, Devin Booker had a chance to tie the game at the free throw line when Portland forward Deni Avdjia fouled him on a three-point attempt with 4.4 seconds left. Booker hit the first two free throws and missed the third. Portland grabbed the rebound and held on for the win. Booker scored a game-high 34 points (9-18 FG, 3-8 3Pt, 13-14 FT) in a losing effort. Kevin Durant poured in 27 points (10-21 FG, 2-9 3Pt, 5-6 FT) and Bradley Beal added 25 (8-17 FG, 3-8 3Pt, 6-6 FT) along with a team-high three steals off the bench. Phoenix lost to Portland for a second consecutive game, they suffered a 127-108 defeat at Portland on Saturday night.

Devin Booker became the Phoenix Suns all-time leading scorer in Monday’s game against Portland. He broke Walter Davis’ scoring record of 15,666 points in the third quarter. The game was stopped when Booker broke the record and he was acknowledged by the Portland crowd and embraced by his family who was sitting courtside. 

Oklahoma City pounded the short-handed Milwaukee Bucks 125-96 at home on Monday night. Milwaukee stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard did not suit up for the game. The Thunder jumped on the depleted Bucks from the opening tip by sprinting out to a 20-point lead in the first quarter and expanding that lead to 34 (78-44) points by halftime. Superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 34 points (15-19 FG, 2-3 3Pt, 2-3 FT) in just 22 minutes for Oklahoma City. 

GAME STORYLINES: PHOENIX

After making a somewhat surprising run to the NBA Finals in 2021 — where they lost to Milwaukee in six games — with a relatively young team, it seemed as if an NBA title was on the horizon for the Phoenix Suns. Phoenix elevated their level of play the next season by winning a franchise-record 64 games in 2021-22 but they were upset by the Dallas Mavericks in the conference semifinals. 

The playoff loss to Dallas in the 2022 West semis seemed to have unraveled the Suns as internal team conflicts led to the eventual firing of head coach Monty Williams and management deciding to transform the team into a Big Three of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant. These moves have backfired as Phoenix won 19 fewer games (45-37) in 2022-23 while losing in the West semis again. The next season (2023-24) ended with a four-game sweep by the upstart Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. The Suns Big Three has been unable to stay healthy since forming prior to the 2023-24 season.

NBA Picks 2/5 – Phoenix Suns @ OKC Thunder

Phoenix got off to an impressive 8-1 start this season behind the superb play of its Big Three but Kevin Durant suffered a calf injury in the 9th game of the season at Dallas on Nov. 8. Durant missed the next 7 games with the calf injury. Phoenix went 1-6 without him and its been an uphill struggle for the team ever since. Phoenix enters tonight’s game at just 25-24 and are in a fight to make the play-in round of the postseason. There has also been plenty of speculation that Kevin Durant and/or Bradley Beal could be dealt by tomorrow’s trade deadline. 

Despite the disappointing season, the Suns Big Three of Kevin Durant (26.9 ppg, 6.1 rebs, 4.2 asts, 1.3 blks, 2.4 threes, 52.4% from 2, 39.8% from 3 in 39 games), Devin Booker (26.1 ppg, 6.7 asts, 4 rebs, 1.1 stls, 2.7 threes, 45.1% from 2 in 44 games) and Bradley Beal (17.1 ppg, 3.4 asts, 1.1 stls, 2.1 threes, 49.2% from 2, 40% from 3 in 36 games) are all having very good seasons. Unfortunately, the injury bug ruined the continuity of the trio again as Durant has missed 10 games while Beal has missed 13. 

GAME STORYLINES: OKLAHOMA CITY

In sports we always have teams who intentionally tank, rebuild or “trust the process” in order to develop a championship team. It seems that these rebuilds fail most of the time and the tanking teams stay bad for a long time resulting in disinterest from fans and constant roster upheaval. Perhaps, no franchise in North American sports history has intentionally tanked and rebuilt itself into a championship contending team quicker or more efficiently than the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

During the 2020 offseason, Oklahoma City made the decision to tank and build around budding, second-year star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who was just 21-years-old at the time. Oklahoma City struggled for the next two seasons finishing with records of 22-50 in 2020-21 and 24-58 in 2021-22 but they drafted three outstanding players during those years in Josh Giddy (No. 6 overall in the 2021) along with Chet Holmgren (No. 2 overall in 2022) and Jalen Williams (No. 12 overall in 2022). 

Nabbing three difference-makers in two separate drafts (2021 and 2022) along with the ascension of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into an All-NBA caliber performer transformed Oklahoma City from a hapless lottery team in 2021 to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference just 3 seasons later in 2023-24. The Thunder have also done an outstanding job of rounding out their talented core of players with terrific complimentary players in Isaiah Hartenstein (2024 free agent signing), Aaron Wiggins (2021 2nd Rd pick), Lu Dort (2020 undrafted free agent) and Isaiah Joe (2022 waiver pick-up).

NBA Picks 2/5 – Phoenix Suns @ OKC Thunder

After going 57-25 — a 17 game improvement over the previous season — and finishing as the top seed in the Western Conference last year, Oklahoma City entered this season with tremendous expectations. It appeared as if the season could be lost for Oklahoma City when star center Chet Holmgren suffered a pelvic fracture against Golden State in just the 10th game on Nov. 10. Holmgren was given a timetable of 8 to 10 weeks before returning — he could return later this month. Surprisingly, Oklahoma City has been dominant without their talented big man as they now own the best record in the NBA at 39-9. 

All-NBA guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to his stellar level of play in year seven. The 26-year-old Kentucky product is averaging 32.5 points, 6 assists, 5.2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block and 2 threes per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the floor across 47 games. He’s currently the front-runner (-550) to win the NBA MVP Award and was named a starter for the Western Conference in the All-Star game later this month. This will be the second straight year Gilgeous-Alexander has started in the All-Star game.

Emerging forward Jalen Williams (21.1 ppg, 5.6 rebs, 5.2 asts, 2 stls, 1 blk, 47.5% from 2 in 45 games), center Isaiah Hartenstein (11.5 ppg, 12.5 rebs, 1.2 blks, 55.4% from 2) and swingman Aaron Wiggins (10ppg, 3.5 rebs, 49.1% from 2) have all played very well alongside superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and elevated their games in the absence of Chet Holmgren. The 23-year-old Williams has improved his averages in each of his first 3 seasons and was named to the Western Conference All-Star team as a reserve for the first time in his four-year career. Hartenstein has been invaluable as a replacement for Chet Holmgren. 

THE PICK: THUNDER (-12)

Oklahoma City is arguably the best team in the NBA and they’ve won their last two home games by a combined 53 points — 144-110 vs. Sacramento and 125-96 vs. Milwaukee. I think OKC will have an easy time tonight with a Phoenix team/organization that seems to be focused on maneuvering to get Jimmy Butler in a trade instead of winning games on the court at the moment. Lay the Big Number and take the Thunder!

NBA Picks 2/5 – Phoenix Suns @ OKC Thunder