Thunder 119, Suns 84: The Day After Report
OKC leads PHX 1-0 in Round 1.
Postgame Bolts
- Loud City was already earning their nickname 20 minutes before tip off. Sounded like a throwback Nebraska Cornhuskers game at The Paycom today.
- Thunder joined the 1986/1987 LA Lakers as the 2nd team in NBA history to win back to back Round 1 Game 1’s by 30+ points.
- The Thunder defense has another gear it can level up to in the playoffs. OKC held Phoenix to 35% shooting and forced 19 turnovers. They outscored the Suns 34-2 in points off turnovers.
- Former OKC Mayor Ron Norick presented Jaylin Williams and the Thunder with The Maurice Podoloff Trophy for the NBA’s best record pregame. The Thunder also unveiled the 2026 Northwest Division banners.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander swatted 7 footer Ighodaro’s dunk attempt at the rim. The soon to be back -to-back MVP had his worst shooting night of the season but still had a winning impact with his playmaking, defense and getting to the line. And yes, he was getting fouled because the Suns threw bodies at him all game.
- Shai scored 20+ points and it doesn’t count towards his streak but I still gotta mention it out of habit.
- Chet dominated the game early. Chet's first 10 minutes: 10 PTS 6 REB 2 STL 1 BLK
- Dillon Brooks uppercut slapped Chet Holmgren and got a Flagrant 1 foul not even five minutes into the series.
- QB1 J-Will threw a full court touchdown pass to WR1 Holmgren with 2.7 seconds on the clock in the first quarter. Chet turned around and splashed a 3 over Oso Ighodaro at the buzzer. Looked like Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb and yeah I know there's much better modern QB/WR combos but I'm a Cowboys fan, just let me have this one.
- J-Will had 4 steals and 1 TD pass in his first 3 minutes.
- Congrats to Jared McCain for scoring his first career playoff points.
- Nikola Topic checked into his first career playoff game and got a big ovation from the OKC crowd.
- Incredible story to go from a Top 5 draft prospect to an ACL injury to a redshirt rookie season to a testicular cancer diagnosis to 3 bouts of chemotherapy to playing playoff minutes all while he’s still only 20 years old.
- On the 31st anniversary of the OKC bombing and on the day of Game 1 of the Thunder's postseason quest for a back to back title...Isaiah Hartenstein's short doc became available on his Youtube channel.
- The film is only 14 1/2 minutes long. Great viewing during the long wait until Wednesday night.
- SGA postgame on playing on the anniversary of the OKC bombing: “It’s so much bigger than just a basketball game.. That’s the top of everyone’s mind waking up today in Oklahoma. It’s created the character and the power in this city.”
- The prevailing theme from Mark Daigneault and the Thunder players in the postgame pressers was that Phoenix was not well rested for Game 1 and they will face a much better team in Game 2. Tip off is set for Wednesday night at 8:30PM central.
Postseason Discount - 80% off!
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