Preview: Suns Face Upstart Thunder
The Phoenix Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder are facing each other for the first of three times this season tonight at Footprint Center. The Thunder and Suns are both coming off of frustrating in-season tournament losses to the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, respectively.
This game will be an opportunity for both sides to gain some momentum back after tough losses.
Outside of the surface information, this matchup is very interesting on more than one front. The two teams couldn't be on a more varying path as of right now, and couldn't have built their squads more differently.
The Suns have all the pressure in the world to deliver an NBA title to Phoenix after a bevy of splash moves in the last year, while Oklahoma City is just turning the corner from the Kevin Durant/Russell Westbrook era and are building for a very bright future while still being competitive.
Oklahoma City has largely built the team through the incredible volume of draft picks general manager Sam Presti accumulated, along with the Paul George trade that netted the Thunder now-superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Suns initially built much of the roster through the draft, but the trade for Kevin Durant in February was a complete 180 in terms of how the franchise looked at roster construction.
Frank Vogel, the new Suns head coach, is very accomplished in his coaching career thus far, leading many teams to the playoffs and winning an NBA title in his decade-plus of coaching.
Thunder head man Mark Daigneault has quickly become one of the more respected coaches in the league, but the former G-league head coach is still quite inexperienced compared to Vogel and is entering his fourth season with a well below .500 record.
There will surely be much to watch for between all of the contrasting factors and storylines coupled with the fact that these are just two very talented basketball teams.
Here are three things to watch for:
How Does Phoenix Attack Chet Holmgren?
Chet Holmgren is already a phenom just nine games into his NBA career. The second overall pick out of Gonzaga has been a revelation for the Thunder, who have sorely missed the presence of a great big man since Serge Ibaka.
Holmgren has not only had a productive season, he's currently pushing Victor Wembanyama for the rookie of the year crown, and is perhaps throwing his name in the hat of the defensive player of the year award.
Holmgren is a fantastic rim protector and help defender in general, averaging 3.3 stocks (steals+blocks) per game despite his slight frame.
While defense is Holmgren's biggest strength, the 7-footer has been quite spectacular on offense as well, averaging 16.2 points a contest on 55/50/87.9 shooting splits.
This begs the question- what does Vogel do to combat Holmgren's already obvious impact?
There are two possible solutions- give Drew Eubanks more minute tonight or tinker with small-ball lineups- perhaps with Durant at the 5.
While Jusuf Nurkic has been quite solid lately, Eubanks simply profiles as a better matchup against Holmgren behind his athletic ability and motor.
The other potential wrinkle Vogel can throw is a lineup that looks something like: Beal-Allen-Gordon-Diop-Durant. This potential lineup maintains the ability to switch on defense while spacing the Thunder out on the other side. Having five shooters out on the court at once will likely force Holmgren to retreat to the perimeter, opening up driving lanes for Beal and co.
Eric Gordon's Status
While it would certainly be nice to have Gordon suit up tonight, the reality may be that the Suns' sharpshooter is set to miss his first game with the franchise.
The Suns placed Gordon on the injury report yesterday, listing him as questionable for tonight's game, citing a shoulder injury.
While Gordon has had a couple of rough games shooting the ball in his early Suns tenure, he also has been a key catalyst in several wins behind Durant's leadership. The combo guard has certainly shown why the Suns have looked into acquiring him for the past decade-plus.
While Devin Booker has been ruled doubtful, there is still hope Gordon can suit up tonight. We will likely know the official status of the Indiana alum no less than two hours prior to tip off tonight.
Bradley Beal Returning to Form
The first two games of the Bradley Beal-Suns union have brought a mixed bag of results. While Beal did have a strong all-around performance against the Chicago Bulls in his team debut, he did shoot 3-for-12 from the field after taking several tough shots off of Chicago blitzes.
Beal was on a tangent in the first half Friday in his home debut against the Lakers before cooling off significantly in the second half.
Beal's season averages through two contests stand as this: 18.5 PPG, 4 RPG, 3 APG on 41.4/50/80 shooting splits.
While we haven't seen the Beal of old in full-force yet, we've gotten glimpses of what makes the star a special player- the ability to hit threes at an efficient clip, the ability to create effective offense off-the-ball, the underrated penchant for playmaking, and even more.
Beal is almost certain to turn the corner soon and deliver a vintage performance that has Suns fans feeling confident that the rust is completely shaken off.
Will that happen tonight? It remains to be seen.
The Suns and Thunder tip off shortly after 6 PM Arizona time tonight. The game will be broadcast locally on AZ Family, and on NBA league pass for out of market fans, per usual.
