3 Honest Takeaways After Suns' Game 1 Loss to Thunder

The Phoenix Suns are officially behind in their first round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder after a humbling Sunday loss in 119-84 fashion at Paycom Center, putting Jordan Ott's team down 1-0.

That's not quite a surprise for either team, though the Suns are still faced with the reality of an uphill climb against the NBA's best team.

Such is life, and with a minimum of three games to go, Phoenix still has time to turn things around.

But is it panic time in the desert already?

Three honest observations from today's matchup:

Suns Just Might Just Get Swept

This probably can't be filed under the "bold takes or predictions" category, but there was some thought entering the series that Phoenix could steal a game from Oklahoma City in the first round.

If today was any indication, Ott has his work cut out for him in a serious way.

The Suns simply were outmanned and outgunned for an overwhelming majority of Game 1. Oklahoma City held every advantage from start to finish, and even a first-time viewer of the game could tell you which team is projected to make a deep run in the postseason once again.

Not every game will be played in Oklahoma City. Perhaps Dillon Brooks finds his shooting in Game 2 and can provide the Suns with more offensive firepower, too.

Yet with just the one 48-minute sample size we have, this has potential to be an ugly series.

OKC's Size Advantage Was Painfully Obvious

The absence of Mark Williams (a bit more on him later) was felt down low against the Thunder, as OKC was able to snag rebounds and control the paint from start to finish against the youthful bodies of Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach.

The Thunder love deploying their two-big lineup, and even with a healthy Williams for Phoenix, they likely would have had similar success down low.

A big knock on the Suns' roster construction this season was their lack of size through the lineup, and that was highlighted in today's blowout loss.

A massive calling card for Ott's crew all season long has been their ability to be physical across the court. OKC is one of the few teams who not only match that, but also do it at higher levels while also applying cleaner on-ball defense, switching at the perimeter, etc.

Injuries Just Might Not Matter This Series

The Suns were down Williams, had Grayson Allen healthy but opted not to play him as he's returning from a hamstring injury and eventually lost Jordan Goodwin in the second quarter due to a calf injury.

Those are sizable pieces for Ott's squad, though the Thunder just might be too good of a team for those absences to truly matter.

The Suns were massive underdogs in this series for a variety of factors, though the Thunder's roster construction is just simply too good for Phoenix from top to bottom in comparison.

Are the injuries unfortunate? Absolutely. Is Phoenix better off with the aforementioned guys back in the lineup? Surely.

However, the Suns were seemingly doomed in this series from the start, injuries be damned.

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