The Thunder's Regular Season Games Against The Suns Give Signs On What To Look Out For

OKC is preparing to take on Phoenix in the first round and must fix past issues.

April 7, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) moves the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The stage is set for Oklahoma City’s first round. 

The Thunder now officially have an opponent for their first-round matchup, as the Phoenix Suns took down the Warriors on Friday to claim the eight-seed in the Western Conference. These two teams will face off in the first series game on Sunday, but have seen enough of each other in the regular season to give this series a preview. 

Oklahoma City won the season series 3-2, but faced difficulties in some areas of the game against the Suns. The playoffs could be a completely different case with OKC putting their best on the floor every night, but there are still things the Thunder will have to look out for. 

One of the big things the Thunder needs to look out for is allowing the Suns too many offensive rebounds. In all five games the two teams played against each other, Phoenix had more offensive boards. This only allowed the Suns to win two games, but maybe the Thunder could have avoided one of those losses. 

In the third game of the regular season series, OKC fell 108-105. However, the Suns outrebounded the Thunder 12-2 on the offensive boards. This gave Phoenix 10 more opportunities to score than OKC, and drastically helped the Suns leave this game victorious. 

This same game exposed another thing Oklahoma City needs to look out for, with Phoenix’s fast break attack. The Suns outscored the Thunder 15-2 on fast breaks in this bout, again aiding in their win. 

Phoenix outscored OKC in three out of the five games on fast breaks, showing they have the ability to get out and run the floor against one of the best defenses in the league. This will have to be something the Thunder works on in this upcoming series, or else the Suns could earn easy points. 

Another thing OKC will have to look out for is the Suns' three-point volume. They don’t have the best percentage, but the Suns take the fifth most threes per game in the NBA this season. They take over 40 three-point shots per game on average, and if they are to get hot, that could be a bad situation for the Thunder. 

OKC has done well on its perimeter defense this year, but if Phoenix starts hitting its deep shots, the Thunder will have to find a way to stop them from firing from beyond the arc. 

By no means should the Thunder be worried about the series they have ahead, but they must key in on certain problems in the past.