PHOENIX — It was a very day-before-the-All-Star-break Wednesday evening for the Phoenix Suns against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 136-109 loss.
“From jump street, we just didn’t have it,” Suns head coach Jordan Ott said.
On top of the expected absences of Grayson Allen (right knee sprain) and Isaiah Livers (left shoulder sprain), Devin Booker and Jalen Green both did not play on the second game of a back-to-back. Booker, as usual, pushed it aggressively when coming back from a severe ankle sprain. Green has played just five minute-restricted games over the last three-plus weeks since missing two-and-a-half months after re-aggravating his right hamstring.
Oklahoma City was down key guys too, without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell, both due to abdominal strains. But while those two are also significant ball-handlers for OKC, it has a whole lot of depth and doesn’t lose much of its defensive identity without that pair.
Phoenix began the game trading a dozen points with Oklahoma City over the course of just 3:12, so it was a matter of who would get its defense in order first.
Unsurprisingly, it was the Thunder, who still have another game coming up on Thursday before getting a week off.
The Suns ended that final 20:47 of the first half scoring 40 and giving up 63 to trail by 23 at the half. No second-half rally materialized and OKC got the advantage as high as 37 before Phoenix’s rookies cut down some of the damage in garbage time.
Phoenix’s defensive shape and intensity were not consistent, and this is versus the elite team in the league that is still tossing Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren out there, as well as ultra-dependable role players elsewhere.
Williams led the way with 28 points, four rebounds and five assists in 20 minutes. He made his first 11 shots before missing his final attempt.
Isaiah Joe hit six 3s in 18 minutes for 21 points.
Dillon Brooks picked up his 16th technical foul and will be suspended for one game if it is not rescinded. That will likely be a week from Thursday, the first contest back out of the All-Star break, in San Antonio. Brooks will get suspended a game for every two technical fouls from here. The total does not carry over to the postseason.
So far, he has not shown the type of restraint you’d expect from someone so close to hurting their team like that, once the chance of suspension started getting real. He has been just as active in speaking with the officials as he was to begin the season. Regardless of what Brooks is saying and if it is deserving of the T or not, it’s irrelevant at this point given the results these conversations produce. He just has to stop or else he’s going to be suspended a few more times, and he’s not going to stop.
Brooks said he “probably could” be the same player without talking to the refs, adding that one of those discussions on Wednesday was an official telling him he was playing the victim.
Brooks was the Suns’ leading scorer with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting with four assists and three turnovers.
Collin Gillespie only had six points in 23 minutes. He’s the one guy you’d pick that is not currently on the injury report that could really use this week to get right. Gillespie has been beat up pretty much all year, playing through all the bumps and bruises.
Phoenix will now take a week before coming back, starting on the road against the Spurs. Booker will participate in All-Star Weekend, both on Saturday in the 3-point contest and Sunday in the All-Star Game. Owner Mat Ishbia will be in the celebrity game on Friday.
