The Phoenix Suns come into their first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder with some momentum after knocking off the Golden State Warriors in the play-in finale Friday to earn the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.
The Thunder haven’t played in a week heading into Sunday’s Game 1 of the series in Oklahoma City.
After letting a big lead slip away in the play-in opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Suns bounced back with a 111-96 home win over the Warriors.
Jalen Green was one of the biggest factors in Phoenix advancing, with 36 points in Friday’s victory.
“They’re going to come in, play hard, play their game, but I think if we bring the same energy that we brought (Friday night) and getting stops, playing defense, getting out and running, we can use that to our advantage,” Green said, looking forward to facing Oklahoma City. “It should be a good series.”
The Thunder are looking to become the first team since Golden State in 2017-18 to repeat as champions.
“It’s an opportunity,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think just going through last year and realizing that’s so far down the line. So many things are going to happen before we get to the Finals clinching game. … So many things have to go our way that aren’t in our control and so many things we have to control that are hard to control at this level for a long period of time for us to have that opportunity.”
Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren said there’s value in having the experience, but that his team can’t take any team lightly.
“You have to try to carry over the experiences that you learn from, but you can’t carry over the result, because the result means absolutely nothing,” Holmgren said. “If you’re sitting here in the playoffs saying, ‘Oh, we won last year,’ that’s not going to win you a playoff series or a game or get a stop on a possession.”
The series features two of the best defenses in the league.
The Thunder had the NBA’s best defensive rating, allowing just 106.5 points per 100 possessions during the regular season while the Suns were ninth at 112.9.
In Friday’s win, Phoenix scored 30 points off Golden State turnovers to help fuel the win, while Oklahoma City led the league with 22.0 points per game off turnovers during the season. The Thunder also limited opponents to just 14.7 points per game off turnovers, second-best in the NBA.
The Thunder won three of the five regular-season matchups between the teams, with Phoenix being one of just three teams to hand Oklahoma City multiple losses this season.
The teams closed the regular season against each other, though that game — a 32-point Suns win — will bear little resemblance to Sunday’s matchup.
With their playoff/play-in positions set, both teams sat most of their starters, with the Thunder’s only regular starter to play being Luguentz Dort.
Phoenix was without Grayson Allen (hamstring) and Mark Williams (foot soreness) for Friday’s win.
