Going into the bubble, the Phoenix Suns were considered an afterthought. Now the OKC Thunder needs to stop the Arizona franchise.
The OKC Thunder looked like a totally different team against the Washington Wizards. They are going to need to be on their game against one of the hottest teams in the bubble, the Phoenix Suns. The Suns were hot to start the season, cooled off, but are on fire now.
The Suns started the season winning six of their first nine games. Since the resumption of the season in the bubble, the Suns have won all five of their contests. Normally a winning streak like would involve beating some lower-ranked teams but that is simply not the case here.
Suns pose challenge for OKC Thunder
In the bubble, the Suns came in as the lowest-ranked team in the Western Conference. They have beaten the Wizards, the Dallas Mavericks, the LA Clippers, the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat. This is a pretty impressive list of teams.
The Suns have won these games based on a full team performance. In every game, they have had five or more players scoring in double figures. They are hard to stop because you don’t know where the offense is coming from.
Their scoring leader is still, without question, Devin Booker. He is averaging 29.4 points per game in the bubble, including the incredible buzzer-beater against the Clippers. He has really come into his own since the season restarted.
The OKC Thunder, on the other hand, has been a little more up and down. They have won three of their five bubble games, beating the Los Angeles Lakers, the Utah Jazz, and the Washington Wizards. They have lost to the Denver Nuggets and the Memphis Grizzlies.
The other challenge for the Thunder is their matchup against the Suns is that it is the second night of a back-to-back. Fortunately, there is no travel but when taking on the hottest team in the bubble, it just makes it a bit tougher.