Oklahoma City fans felt like the sky had fallen.
They never would have imagined that the Thunder, who had enjoyed such a smooth regular season, would run into such serious trouble in the mere second round.
Getting beaten 2–1 by the Suns right out of the gate was a real blow to the dignity of the Western Conference's top seed and the League's second-best team!!
By rights, the Nets' script next door should have been their reality.
"Brooklyn! You stole my life!!"
But reality was reality.
In the playoff environment, a team like the Thunder, with such an obvious flaw, was simply more likely to run into this kind of problem.
Even though SGA had looked better in the previous game and helped them secure a win, his shooting still wasn't good enough to sustain that kind of efficiency for long.
Especially after the Suns made a point of tightening their defensive pressure on him...
By comparison, Phoenix had very few weaknesses.
Aside from Maka at power forward, who had to steer clear of AD's post-up game, they had almost no major matchup problems.
Ayton, Huang Zhong, and Hali Booker were all physically gifted enough that, as long as they kept their attitudes in check, they generally wouldn't become defensive liabilities.
And with several of their perimeter players finding their shooting touch again, the Suns ultimately laid the foundation for victory with a 39–28 surge in the Third Quarter, then held on to the lead the rest of the way.
Devin Booker finished with 38 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists; Haliburton finished with 27 points, 7 rebounds, and 15 assists.
One led the team in scoring, while the other served as a secondary scorer and also took charge of coordinating the offense.
The two core players' seamless teamwork unleashed