What should fans expect from this series, which tips off Sunday? Joel Lorenzi, who covers the Thunder, and Doug Haller, who covers the Suns, offer their thoughts.<\/p>\n
What is the biggest storyline for my team headed into the playoffs?<\/p>\n
Joel Lorenzi: What will it take for the Thunder to become the first repeat champion since the 2017-18 Warriors?<\/p>\n
Their historically impactful defense stands. Draining. Meticulous. Gilgeous-Alexander has somehow transcended again. He\u2019s more efficient, more precise. Both he and Oklahoma City\u2019s wood-chipper defense will carry their title hopes.<\/p>\n
But what about the half-court offense? Will the Thunder\u2019s regular-season developments \u2014 like Isaiah Joe\u2019s added attributes or Ajay Mitchell\u2019s poise \u2014 translate to the postseason? Will these improvements rear their head when the game slows down?<\/p>\n
Next to the San Antonio Spurs, it seems Oklahoma City\u2019s biggest obstacle is \u2026 itself.<\/p>\n
Doug Haller: Who are these guys?<\/p>\n
For much of the first half of the season, Phoenix looked like a team that could capture a top-six seed and maybe win a playoff series \u2014 or, at least, scare someone. The Suns haven\u2019t looked like that team in weeks. Part of this is injury related. Jalen Green missed most of the season\u2019s first half, and once he returned, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks and Grayson Allen were in and out of the lineup with various issues. The Suns spent the regular season\u2019s final weeks trying to rediscover their defensive identity and offensive rhythm.<\/p>\n
That remains a work in progress, and they simply haven\u2019t been good enough to overcome it.<\/p>\n
Who is the biggest X-factor for my team?<\/p>\n
Lorenzi: Ajay Mitchell.<\/p>\n
Mitchell is the kind of creator Oklahoma City longed for at times last postseason: a good-sized ballhandler with sound decision-making in case Gilgeous-Alexander is smothered or off the floor. He is a quick thinker who can run an offense, attack closeouts, play with or without the ball, create in isolation or at the end of the clock, and shoot at a decent enough clip to keep a defense honest. He\u2019s also a respectable defender.<\/p>\n
He should give the second units a necessary jolt and, potentially, make life easier for Gilgeous-Alexander. With the bothersome schemes awaiting Gilgeous-Alexander, and with Jalen Williams\u2019 shape as a creator still unclear, Mitchell could play an especially large role in the first round.<\/p>\n
Haller: Devin Booker.<\/p>\n
Can a star player be an X-factor? In this case, yes. Booker is a gifted scorer, among the NBA\u2019s best, but he also prides himself on playing the right way, making the extra pass, hitting the open man.<\/p>\n
This is all good. It\u2019s what made Booker so appreciated during the Paris Olympics. He\u2019s a team player. But this Phoenix team needs him to do more.<\/p>\n
In the final minutes of a close contest, a contested shot from Booker is better than a contested shot from Green or Brooks. Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player in this series, that\u2019s obvious. But for the Suns to be competitive, Booker, at minimum, has to be a close second.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n Jalen Williams only played 33 regular-season games this season. What can he bring to the table as the Thunder prepare for their first-round series against the Suns? (Justin Ford \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
What is the biggest concern for my team?<\/p>\n
Lorenzi: How close is Jalen Williams to form?<\/p>\n
While even a percentage of Williams should be an effective player, the looming question is whether these past several weeks were enough for him to reunite with the necessary burst for the playoffs after he appeared in just 33 regular-season games this season.<\/p>\n
He should, in theory, be a better shooter this time around. His wrist isn\u2019t shredded the way it was last year. The defensive versatility is unchanged. But the nagging hamstring injuries down the stretch of the season is the question.<\/p>\n
The Thunder are going to need him to at least win them a few games, perhaps with some on-ball creation, if they\u2019re to embark on a title run.<\/p>\n
Haller: Can Phoenix close?<\/p>\n
Not counting the final regular-season contest against Oklahoma City, a game in which both teams sat most of their best players, the Suns haven\u2019t beaten a good team in a while. Since March 1, they have posted three wins over teams that made the postseason: the Toronto Raptors, the Charlotte Hornets and Golden State.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean they haven\u2019t been competitive. On April 7, they scored 24 consecutive points in the first quarter against Houston, only to watch the Rockets outscore them 38-21 in the fourth quarter to win easily. Over the last six weeks of the regular season, the Suns ranked No. 27 in fourth-quarter offense. It\u2019s a problem they have not solved.<\/p>\n
What is the most intriguing player matchup of the series?<\/p>\n
Lorenzi: The Thunder defense versus Devin Booker.<\/p>\n
Lu Dort and Booker is the game within the game. Dort attempting to suffocate Booker, deny him the ball and mitigate his attempts. Booker running off screens and sizing him up anyway. Dort has already scratched a few names off his playoff list these past few years.<\/p>\n
Booker sent Oklahoma City packing with a game winner in January, but Dort has his share of regular-season data to lean on. Phoenix can\u2019t win so much as a game if Booker is minimized.<\/p>\n
Haller: Grayson Allen versus his health.<\/p>\n
OK, this is cheating, but it stands. An eighth-year guard, Allen is incredibly important to this Phoenix team. He\u2019s had a career-best season, averaging 16.5 points. Allen has always been an elite shooter, but he\u2019s also become an effective driver, attacking the rim or kicking to open shooters.<\/p>\n
The problem is, he\u2019s unreliable. Allen missed 31 games this season with various injuries. He hasn\u2019t played in more than five contests in a row since early February and entered the postseason with left hamstring soreness. Phoenix needs him.<\/p>\n
Biggest reason for optimism for my team?<\/p>\n
Lorenzi: The defense.<\/p>\n
On the wing is a group of pests, all with their own idiosyncrasies and specialties. At the rim stands Chet Holmgren, as skillful as they come when swatting shots. There\u2019s Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams, the muscle to Holmgren\u2019s mind, taking on the sturdiest of matchups.<\/p>\n
It helps when the guards who lean toward offense all claim a respectable floor of defense: Mitchell, Joe and Gilgeous-Alexander. They\u2019re the league\u2019s best on that side of the floor for two years running.<\/p>\n
Haller: In its simplest form, the Suns\u2019 biggest reason for optimism is simply that they\u2019re here.<\/p>\n
Six months ago, no one would\u2019ve predicted such a thing. With the league\u2019s most expensive roster last season, they won 36 games and failed to even make the Play-In Tournament. Over the summer, they traded Kevin Durant, parted ways with Bradley Beal and overhauled the roster.<\/p>\n
Many thought they were headed for a long season under first-year coach Jordan Ott. Instead, they\u2019ve kept people\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
Prediction?<\/p>\n
Lorenzi: These Thunder don\u2019t boast quite the same sense of inevitability as those dynastic Warriors squads of the past, but they\u2019re fairly automatic.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re fresh and whole again, and they deploy waves of defenders. Booker, like several others, has a tormented history against Dort, and despite Brooks\u2019 catalytic tendencies, it all feels overbearing for the league\u2019s No. 17-ranked regular-season offense. Series prediction: Thunder in 4.<\/p>\n
Haller: At its best, Phoenix played harder and defended better than opponents. That mattered in December and January.<\/p>\n
In the playoffs, more talent is needed. Series prediction: Thunder in 4.<\/p>\n
Editor\u2019s note: A previous version of this article misstated that LeBron James was the only player in NBA history to be named regular-season MVP and NBA Finals MVP in back-to-back seasons. Two players have done that. Michael Jordan, who did it with the Chicago Bulls in the early 1990s, is the other.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What exactly would it mean for the Oklahoma City Thunder to repeat as NBA champions this season? In…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,472,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-713390","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-oklahoma","11":"tag-oklahoma-city","12":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","13":"tag-oklahomacity","14":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","15":"tag-phoenix-suns","16":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116427314740458787","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}