The OKC Thunder's Big Thre Proving to be too Much for Suns

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s stars are already shining too bright for the Suns.

The Thunder are currently leading the opening series 1-0 after an impressive performance on Sunday, and are now looking to continue this momentum into Game 2 on Wednesday night. The Thunder’s core trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams carried most of the offensive load for OKC, and are starting to prove that Phoenix already has its hands full with them.

Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City in scoring in Game 1, and yet he didn’t have his best game by any means. The MVP candidate shot 5-18 from the field and missed all four shots he took from beyond the arc. The Thunder star still found a way to get going, as he used his aggressiveness to get to the foul line time and time again. He shot 17 free throws, making 15 of them, still giving OKC a boost when his shooting wasn’t its best.

He found other ways to get involved as well besides scoring, as he had seven assists, four rebounds and even blocked two shots. Gilgeous-Alexander is looking to improve as the series goes on, and that is bad news for the Suns.

Williams seemed to be back in peak form right in time for the playoffs. The usual No. 2 option for OKC had missed most of the year due to injuries, but now it seems like he is back to his old self. Williams had 22 points and sprinkled his resume for Game 1 with a little bit of everything, with seven rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block.

He shot a solid 60% from the floor and seemed to be controlling the game at will. If Williams is able to keep this play up throughout the playoffs, then the Thunder will be a very hard team to beat.

Finally, Holmgren showcased how dominant he can be down low in this series. The young star had 16 points on 50% shooting and grabbed seven boards for Oklahoma City. His offense has continued to improve throughout this season, but he finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year race for a reason.

Holmgren had two steals and two blocks on Sunday and refused to allow any easy points. With him holding down the paint for the rest of the series, it will be a battle for Phoenix to score in abundance down low.

The Thunder’s big three combined for 63 points and were the main factors in the Game 1 win. The Suns didn’t seem to have an answer for them, and if their play continues like this, it's possible there might be no answer.

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