OKLAHOMA CITY — Using a 34-24 fourth-quarter advantage, the Oklahoma City Thunder completed the 15-point comeback win against the Phoenix Suns, 124-120.
The packed Sunday crowd — which was the largest of the season for OKC at a 98.3% capacity rate — enjoyed a classic that saw scoring machines Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Devin Booker duel it out.
Both scored 40 points — Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 40 points and Booker finished with 46 points.
As the Thunder rallied late in the second half, the crowd’s cheers grew louder to near deafening levels. Considering how pivotal this game — and really, every game from here on out — is, it was an appropriate full house against a team with championship aspirations.
“The crowd was the difference in the game tonight,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “That was huge. We need that every night. Every home game from here on out. They were massive.”
It seems like Josh Giddey agrees with that too.
“That was the loudest (crowd) I’ve heard it in my two years here,” Giddey said.
The pinnacle of the crowd’s cheers came at the 5:46 mark of the fourth quarter. An Isaiah Joe 3 pushed OKC’s lead to 108-102. The crowd erupted in a reaction that rivals the Loud City era.
After trailing the Suns 100-90 with 10 minutes left in the game, the Thunder went on an 18-2 run to give themselves their first lead since the first score.
“We got on the doorstep a couple of times and then they kept extending the lead,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “… We got off to a tough start in the fourth (quarter) but we strung a couple together and swung some momentum… I thought the key to that type of win is staying alive long enough for when the game turns.”
That’s exactly what the Thunder did.
Trailing by 12 points heading into halftime, the Thunder snapped out of their sleepy play in the second half as they outscored the Suns, 67-51.
With Deandre Ayton out, the Thunder feasted inside of the paint and outscored the Suns, 56-40. The Thunder also enjoyed a significant free-throw advantage as they outshot the Suns from the charity stripe, 29-of-36 (80.6%) to 17-of-24 (70.8%). Gilgeous-Alexander led the way in that department with a career-high tying 19 attempts.
The Thunder have now won four of their last five games and continue to strengthen their playoff odds. An impressive home win against a Suns squad sans Kevin Durant will definitely help with that cause.
Even without Durant, the Suns had a legitimate chance to win their third consecutive game against the Thunder due to their other prolific scorer.
In the loss, Booker was fantastic for the Suns. As mentioned earlier, Booker scored 46 points on efficient 18-of-28 shooting. Booker singlehandedly kept the Suns in the game as he scored 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Regardless of who the Thunder threw at Booker, he continued to torch them. In three games against OKC this season, Booker is averaging 38.3 points on 61.1% shooting.
Former Thunder guard Chris Paul also finished with 14 points and 13 assists. In his return to OKC since being traded, Darius Bazley logged in three points in seven minutes.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A+
After previously admitting he circled this game on his calendar, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turned in one of his best games of the season.
In 35 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 40 points on 12-of-24 shooting and went 16-of-19 from the free-throw line. He also finished with five rebounds and four assists.
It was Gilgeous-Alexander’s sixth 40-plus point game of the season and the first of the batch where he didn’t attempt a single 3-pointer.
With the Thunder starting off slow, Gilgeous-Alexander kept them in the game with 13 first-quarter points. He was also an excellent closer for the Thunder as he scored 10 fourth-quarter points — this included going a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line to close this comeback win out.
Just like his coach and teammates, Gilgeous-Alexander felt the louder-than-usual energy inside Paycom Center during this afternoon game.
“We had a home-court advantage for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said about the crowd. “They were energetic. They were their usual selves. It was a big game tonight and it felt like it.”
Workin' hard on the weekend! 😤 pic.twitter.com/aF31ehQXC6
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 19, 2023
Things we can all appreciate 👀 pic.twitter.com/0y5Yp4hffk
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 19, 2023
Space & pace! pic.twitter.com/1nYMAS0A57
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 19, 2023
Lu Dort: A
Among the entire roster, Lu Dort arguably receives the loudest criticisms for his volatile offensive game. His drives are erratic and his shooting is inconsistent. This means scoring results are usually high variant.
With that said though, Dort deserves a ton of praise for this big-time win as he finished with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and went 4-of-6 from 3 to tie his season-high for most made 3s in a game.
Dort did most of his damage in the third quarter, where he scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
J-DUB STEAL 🤑
LU DORT THREE 🪣There's a new option to watch the Thunder. Learn More: https://t.co/YioxgSU4nH@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/b3GpQ9chKY
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) March 19, 2023
Breaking down the defense! 👏 pic.twitter.com/phpQIbIOH7
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 19, 2023
Defensive stop ➡️ Dort slam 🔨 pic.twitter.com/HKoFjKzGTL
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 19, 2023
Josh Giddey: B
Josh Giddey played a quiet — but important — role in this four-point win as he finished with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting, six assists and six rebounds.
Outside of one made 3-pointer, Giddey had all of his made shots inside of the paint, where he went 6-of-10.
“Credit to the guys, they threw a lot of punches,” Giddey said. “We took them and bounced right back. We never flinched. We kept our foot down and kept chipping away at the lead.”
Dimes served fresh! 🤝@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/6Fah7OOUTr
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 19, 2023
Right down Main Street! pic.twitter.com/1GaDrCG3sY
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 19, 2023
Josh Giddey with an absolute DIME to SGA 👀@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/aUjXPPdLkH
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) March 19, 2023
Aaron Wiggins: A
If there needed to be a game pinpointed that can exemplify Aaron Wiggins’ tenure with the Thunder, this one might be it.
With the Thunder struggling against the Suns in the first three quarters, Daigneault went deep in his bag and pulled out the Wiggins card.
The move worked tremendously as Wiggins left his mark in this win as the Thunder outscored the Suns by eight points in his 12 fourth-quarter minutes. Wiggins finished with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting and two steals.
Considering he sat for the first 36 minutes of the game, what was going through Wiggins’ mind when Daigneault told him to check in?
“Make something happen,” Wiggins said.
That’s certainly what he did as he was the face of OKC’s comeback win despite riding the bench for 75% of the game.
Whether the Thunder should rely on Wiggins more often is a discussion for another day, but he was the hero in this win as he brought the juice.
“He was literally himself,” Gilgeous-Alexander said about Wiggins. “Really good defensively. Had a few cuts to the basket for layups; some steals. He almost seems like he makes the right play every time he touches it. He’s been great all year at that… He was super big tonight in our (win).”
Defense giving the offense energy!!! 🔋 pic.twitter.com/F9xfhoQwrI
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 19, 2023
whoopsies, Devin Booker!!! 🙂@okcthunder | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/lHQfImgjO8
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) March 19, 2023
