Suns look to keep the ball rolling against the red-hot Thunder

After dropping five games in a row, the Phoenix Suns finally recorded a win, knocking off the Denver Nuggets by 14 points on Wednesday. It’d been more than a month since the team had won a game by double-digits, and it had to feel like a weight was lifted off the shoulders of newcomer Brandon Knight in particular, as he racked up his first win in purple and orange.

Against the Nuggets, Knight scored 19 points, adding six assists and three rebounds in 33 minutes. It was far and away the best the former Kentucky Wildcat had played since joining the team, but tonight he’ll likely need a repeat of that performance  if the Suns are going to emerge victorious.

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Next up for the Suns is a red-hot Oklahoma City team that has won its last seven games, four of which have been decided by 15 or more points. Russell Westbrook has been playing out of his mind as of late, posting 29.5 points, 10.1 assists and 8.2 rebounds per game in the month of February, and as would be expected, he’s the only player in the NBA to average those stats in any one month this year.

Without Durant, the Thunder haven’t missed a beat, although part of that has been thanks to some new additions. The Thunder were among the teams involved in this year’s wild trade-deadline day, as they shipped Reggie Jackson and Kendrick Perkins to Detroit and Utah respectively, in exchange for Enes Kanter, D.J. Augustin and Kyle Singler, all of whom have helped the Thunder in various aspects.

Kanter has averaged 15.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in his three contests with Oklahoma City, and he’s already proven himself to be a sizable upgrade (note the pun) from Kendrick Perkins. Meanwhile, Augustin has filled in solidly as a backup for Russell Westbrook, not to mention he has a previous relationship with Kevin Durant, as the two played at Texas together. Kyle Singler, on the other hand, has had less of a statistical impact to this point, but he’ll be key for the team down the stretch, especially filling in for Kevin Durant, who is expected to miss significant time with his foot injury.

The Re-Serge-ence

Since the All Star break, Serge Ibaka has been playing extremely well, averaging 17.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game, while making exactly 90.0% of his free throws. Things have started to click for Ibaka, as he’s scored 20+ points in three of his last four games, following a stretch where he hit that total just one time in 21 appearances.

When Ibaka is clicking on offense, it adds another element to Oklahoma City. Teams already have to game plan against Ibaka as a defensive force, as he’s been having another strong season in that regard. Ibaka already has three games this year where he’s posted seven-or-more blocks, and he’s had 10 outings with at least five combined blocks and steals, all of which have come with teams intentionally trying to go away from him in the paint, seeing as he was fourth in voting for Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Markieff Morris will likely be guarded by Ibaka in this game, meaning that it’s unlikely the former Jayhawk will be breaking out of his recent slump that’s seen him score just 19 points in the last three games (although he did average about six rebounds and four assists per game in that stretch). However, with that being said, Morris did average 14.5 points per game in the Suns’ first two meetings against OKC, so maybe he’ll find a way to get back on track. 

Previous meeting(s):

In the last meeting between the two teams, I think it’s more than fair to say that tempers were flaring. There were six technical fouls called between the two teams, in addition to a flagrant foul and an ejection, and that even feels like selling the story short…

Fun stuff.

Westbrook ended up getting ejected in the first half of the game, but it didn’t matter, as Kevin Durant posted an absurd stat line, doing so in his first game back from injury. The former Texas forward scored 44 points in 40 minutes, adding 10 rebounds, seven assists and a block.

Durant and the Thunder were able to overcome a 75-point outburst from the trio of Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Markieff Morris, who did so while shooting over 56% from the field. The trio was also 7-of-14 from three, while adding 14 rebounds and 11 assists, albeit in a losing effort.

Two weeks before that, however, the Suns squared off against the Thunder for the first time this season, and the result was almost never in question. The Suns lost by 24 points, and it really wasn’t even that close, as the score actually got closer in the final period, as the Suns outscored the Thunder. That time, it was Westbrook leading the way, with 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in 27 minutes, while Durant only managed a measly 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

Tyler Ennis was the only member of the Suns who played remotely well in that game, as he scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, adding three rebounds, two assists and no turnovers. I would, however, be shocked if this happened again, seeing as how… well… Tyler Ennis plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, although it’s worth noting that Ennis actually got some court time last night, and he was fairly solid. The Canadian had nine points, two assists and two steals in 24 minutes, while racking up a plus/minus of +6.

Prediction:

Last game, I wrote that Eric Bledsoe would score 18 points, and he did, so I draw from that the following conclusion. Bledsoe clearly reads my posts on this site, and he graciously goes out of his way to make my predictions correct, so here we go:

Eric Bledsoe scores 135 points on 55-of-57 shooting, shattering Wilt Chamberlain’s record for points in a game, while playing just 31 minutes. Bledsoe also achieves a rare triple-triple, racking up 114 rebounds and 108 assists, as the Suns go on to win by 297 points.

Okay, for real…

With or without Durant, Oklahoma City is still a very good team, and it shows. Westbrook and Ibaka combine for 50 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, as the Suns run out of gas at the very end of what could have just as easily been a victory. Archie Goodwin has a solid showing, posting eight points and a few rebounds, and Alex Len continues to be solid inside, accounting for 12 rebounds and three blocks.

Thunder 107, Suns 101

Next: The Bright Knight Rises