OKC Thunder: 3 keys to finish road trip strong in Phoenix
The OKC Thunder finish their five-game road trip in Phoenix. Unlike the Eastern five-game road trip when the team recorded a 4-1 record this time out the Thunder have struggled losing to the Nuggets and consecutive games to the Clippers. They finally got back in the win column in Portland taking down the Blazers.
The lessons learned from the consecutive losses to the Clippers became the difference in Portland as the Thunder came out focused and aggressive winning the first quarter 34-24 and used that padding to maintain their lead and hold on to capture the 125-122 victory.
While the Thunder have two wins in their last seven games this is precisely what was expected of the club coming into this season.
Conversely, the Suns made moves to shore up their depth specifically bringing in Thunder captain Chris Paul to add a veteran presence and build upon the success Phoenix experienced in the Orlando bubble.
Three keys to OKC Thunder match versus the Suns
The Suns got out to a hot 6-2 start with statement wins over the Jazz and Nuggets. Their momentum got put on pause as the team dealt with three postponements due to the pandemic. They’ve won a single time in the last five contests and overtime has not been friendly (0-3).
While the Suns played four games last week they’ve been idle since Saturday following the overtime loss to the Nuggets. Conversely, this is the third game in four nights for the Thunder.
With that, let’s look at three keys to the match.
OKC Thunder key no. 1 – Attack the paint
Despite the presence of Deandre Ayton
and some physical, athletic players on the Suns they allow the eighth-most opponent points in the paint (48.1). Of course, the bad news is the Thunder allow the fourth most (50.0).
The reason this dynamic swings to the advantage of the Thunder is they score the 12th most points in the paint (47.1) while the Suns rank 29th scoring 39.1 points. It’s a bit of an outlier given Ayton’s dominance in the paint and the numerous guards and wings on the Suns who are adept at driving the ball.
It’s the offensive scheme that seems to be the main variance as the Suns score 35.2 percent of their points in the paint while the Thunder score 44.2 percent of their points in the paint.