![\"PHOENIX,](\"https:\/\/platform.brightsideofthesun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2261170847.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPHOENIX, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 11: Dillon Brooks #3 of the Phoenix Suns goes to the basket against Luguentz Dort #5 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Mortgage Matchup Center on February 11, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Coduto\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n
In the Suns\u2019 recent Play-In loss to the Blazers, the bench size was underutilized. Against a long OKC team, expect Jordan Ott to look toward Ryan Dunn, and possibly Rasheer Fleming and Khaman Maluach to provide athletic resistance against OKC\u2019s drives.<\/p>\n
Jordan Goodwin has been a blessing for this Suns team. They\u2019re going to need plenty more havoc from him as he will likely be tasked with tracking SGA all series long. Royce O\u2019Neale needs to knock down shots. Ryan Dunn must defend and make plays. Collin Gillespie needs to shoot with confidence. It will take everyone.<\/p>\n
Will we get another Jalen Green game? He is coming off consecutive strong showings with his back against the wall. If the Suns have any shot at upsetting OKC, Jalen Green will play a huge part in it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s going to be a dogfight. The oddsmakers aren\u2019t giving the Suns much of a chance, but 14 points is a massive spread for a playoff opener. Phoenix has enough firepower to keep this close if they can slow the pace and knock down shots. However, OKC\u2019s home-court advantage and depth will be too much to overcome. I hope I\u2019m wrong, but I just don\u2019t see it today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who: Phoenix Suns @ Oklahoma City Thunder When: 12:30 pm Arizona Time Where: Paycom Center \u2014 Oklahoma City,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3791],"tags":[7,6,2065,472,4045,604,30667],"class_list":{"0":"post-714021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix-suns","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-phoenix","11":"tag-phoenix-suns","12":"tag-phoenixsuns","13":"tag-suns","14":"tag-suns-game-previews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116432237819564970","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714021","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=714021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}