Devin Booker said figuring out the Oklahoma City Thunder is the easy part.
“The secret is out,” the Phoenix Suns star said in the aftermath of the Thunder’s 123-119 win over his Suns on Nov. 28 in Oklahoma City. “They do speed you up. They play aggressive. They’ll grab, they’ll hold, but it’s never like when you’re in a shooting position. It’s always on the handle or on your drives when they get away with it … they have multiple defenders out there. They have their switching partners, guys that will get after it every time.”
Figuring it out is one thing, slowing it down is another.
Phoenix, perhaps with Booker back in the lineup, faces the Thunder again Wednesday in Oklahoma City in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup.
The winner will take on either the Los Angeles Lakers or San Antonio Spurs on Saturday in Las Vegas.
The earlier meeting between the teams was part of NBA Cup group play, with the Thunder’s victory giving them the group title but with the Suns advancing via the wild card.
Oklahoma City comes into the game on a 15-game winning streak, tying a franchise record.
The Thunder are just the third team in NBA history to win at least 23 of their first 24 games. The 1969-70 Knicks won 23 of their first 24 as well, while the 2015-16 Warriors won 24 consecutive games to start the season.
Only one game during Oklahoma City’s 15-game winning streak has been decided by fewer than eight points — that earlier win over Phoenix.
“They play with a major edge,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of the Suns. “They’re organized on offense, they’re disciplined on defense, so they don’t beat themselves. They put themselves in position to win the possession. When you do that consistently across possessions, you put yourself in position to win the games. …
“They really are a feisty, detailed, hungry team.”
Booker, who scored 21 in the earlier meeting against Oklahoma City, has missed the last two games after sustaining a right groin strain Dec. 1 but Suns coach Jordan Ott left open the possibility Booker would return against the Thunder. He was listed as questionable on Tuesday’s injury report.
Phoenix has alternated wins and losses over its last four games and is coming off a 108-105 victory at Minnesota on Monday.
Dillon Brooks, who has been dealing with left Achilles soreness, was a key piece in that win and continues to be a driving force with the Suns, even without Booker.
“Where we would be without him, I don’t think any of us want to think about,” Ott said. “… Just how competitive his fire, his grit that he brings every single night where he feels 100% or not is something unique in the NBA.”
Oklahoma City is coming off a 131-101 victory at Utah on Sunday even though it was playing without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the first time this season. Gilgeous-Alexander missed that game with left elbow bursitis but is not on the injury report for Wednesday’s game.
Daigneault said his team’s approach doesn’t change in NBA Cup games.
“Any time the scoreboard’s on we want to be on it and we want to hold ourselves to that standard,” Daigneault said. “I think the benefit of approaching it like that is when the stakes do get higher, whether it’s a Cup game or whether it’s the playoffs, you’ve conditioned yourself to a certain way of operating to a certain standard and hopefully we’re doing that.”
