OKLAHOMA CITY — About a mile from the Paycom Center, where the Phoenix Suns practiced Tuesday morning, not far from statues of Mickey Mantle and Jim Thorpe, lies the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
The museum honors the best from the 46th state, which includes Mantle, Johnny Bench and college basketball coach Bill Self. It also recognizes Suns’ Ring of Honor member Alvan Adams, who was inducted into the Hall in 1995. Adams attended high school about 10 miles away and starred at the University of Oklahoma in the 1970s. His plaque lists all the scoring and rebounding records he set while in college. It also states that the 6-foot-9 former Rookie of the Year averaged 14.1 points and seven rebounds during his 13 NBA seasons, all with the Suns.
The plaque, however, does not include Adams’ playoff record, which includes 78 games. Phoenix lost 43 of those contests, but never one by as many as 35 points — as the Suns did against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of this Western Conference first-round series.
That puts into perspective just how much Phoenix needs to clean up entering Game 2 Wednesday night — how quickly they need to reduce the distance between embarrassed and respected.
The optics are not good. Since the league shifted to the best-of-seven format in 2003, teams that won Game 1 of a first-round series advanced 76.1 percent of the time, per NBA stats. The eye test in Game 1 was even more alarming. Oklahoma City did not play its best and was never threatened. The game was pretty much over in the first half.
Adams’ worst playoff loss came near the end of his career. On April 18, 1985, the Suns — down three key players because of injuries — opened a first-round series against the “Showtime” Lakers as heavy underdogs. They trailed by 21 after the first quarter and lost 142-114.
Asked to size up Phoenix’s series chances after the defeat, Suns forward Maurice Lucas jokingly told reporters: “We do have a realistic option if we drag Magic into a street alley and beat his a–.”
Magic Johnson played on. The Lakers swept the Suns with little resistance.
This Phoenix team will try to take a different path, but nothing about it will be easy. To start, the Suns are shorthanded. Big man Mark Williams, sidelined the last two games with left foot soreness, wore a protective boot at Tuesday’s practice and is unlikely to play. Guard Grayson Allen has not played since April 10 because of left hamstring tightness. Defensive ace Jordan Goodwin left in the first half of Game 1 with left calf soreness.
Then there’s dealing with top-seeded Oklahoma City, motivated and determined to repeat as NBA champion. Devin Booker perhaps provided the best assessment of the Thunder last week before leaving Phoenix. Asked for the keys to this series, the star guard laughed.
“Everything,” he said.
That’s the problem. The Suns don’t need to fix just a couple things, as is usually the case between playoffs games. They have several issues to address. As Phoenix finished practice, coach Jordan Ott said the Suns need to reduce turnovers and improve defensive rebounding. They need to create steals and get out in transition. They also need to limit fouls, especially against Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who made 15 of 17 from the foul line in Game 1.
Most importantly, the Suns need to move the ball. In spurts, often with Booker resting, they get caught overdribbling, which leads to contested shots. Ott said Oklahoma City’s wing defenders are elite, which makes offensive execution difficult.
But the Suns don’t need to do anything outside of their system. They just need to execute it better.
“They guard the basketball with five guys, and they’re really good at it,” guard Collin Gillespie said. “We got to be able to move on a string with the guy who’s dribbling the ball. Shortening passes is really important, giving guys windows to make those passes — especially Book, Jalen (Green), Dillon (Brooks), those guys that have the ball in their hands and are trying to create for us and create for themselves. They’re a good defensive team, so they’re going to cut off that first action sometimes, and we got to be able to make plays on the backside.”
Ott expects the Suns to learn from their Game 1 mistakes.
“We just got to get some juice and energy,” he said. “I’m sure the environment here’s helpful. You want to be in those environments. It was rocking in Game 1, and it’ll be great (for Game 2.) Our guys will be juiced and ready to go.”