Eric Bledsoe played his best game of the season and it wasn’t even close to enough. Oklahoma City pulled out a 124-103 win over the Phoenix Suns thanks to an outstanding effort from Kevin Durant and solid play from Russell Westbrook, Dion Waiters “Island” (yikes), and Enes Kanter.
Phoenix had one last chance to make a run, when T.J. Warren pump faked his way past Durant and proceeded to nail an 18 footer plus the foul and cut the lead to 13 with just under eight minutes to go.
Then Oklahoma City put its foot down. Ball movement led to a open trey for Waiters, Durant came down and nailed a monster 25 footer and finally tacked on a pretty finger roll for good measure.
Durant finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
The only reason the Suns were in it at all was the brilliance of Eric Bledsoe. The former Clipper dropped 20 in the first half, showing off a feathery jumper and a palpable intensity.
Bledsoe got almost no help until Warren got hot in the second half scoring 11 of his 17 points.
The Suns who had previously ranked as one of the best boarding teams in basketball got out-rebounded 52-33 and gave up 27 second chance points after giving up an average of just 8.5 per game on the season.
A Bright Spot
Something about Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder brings out the best in Eric Bledsoe. For his career Bledsoe averages a 22-6-3 line against the Zombie Sonics, tonight was more of the same.
Bledsoe hasn't had the game in his hands enough tonight. His focus has been sharp. He's 9 of 14 with 8 assists & 1 turnover. #SunsAtThunder
— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) November 9, 2015
Bledsoe scored eight of the Sun’s first 12 points and finished with 28 points and 11 assists, the one guy in a black uniform who came ready to play.
During the second half he had a two play stretch in which he drained a deep three and then came right back down and assisted T.J. Warren with a beautiful if ill advised jump bounce pass.
Bledsoe was quite down the stretch, but at a certain point there was only so much he could do.
Two nights after struggling from the field his jumper looked more fluid than ever, as he got fully into rhythm his release point got higher and he was simply flicking the ball into the basket.
Bledsoe still doesn’t bring it every game and that’s ultimately the barometer for a superstar, but still we’ve never seen Bledsoe at this level and after a game that functioned as a stark reminder of where the Suns rank in the Western Conference pecking order, it’s nice to know they have one guy who’s ready for the spotlight.
Overreaction Time?
Can't wait for people to tell me I should be more optimistic about the Suns and that it's still early. I've been optimistic for years but...
— MenaceIISobriety (@purple_n_orange) November 9, 2015
Are we really here already? Phoenix is 3-4, they had a fluky blowout loss to Dallas to open the season, one to the third best team in the east and two more to a pair of Western Conference juggernauts. Despite tonight’s abomination this is the best defensive unit of the Jeff Hornacek era, and far and away its best rebounding team.
There are reasons for concern, but the team-wide terrible shooting should regress to the mean.
The last two games have been disappointing, but to derive anything concrete from them is foolish.
The Thunder Are Scary
While Phoenix played poorly, this game said more about the Thunder than anything else. When Durant is gliding through defenses like they’re apparitions, Westbrook is doing his freak of nature thing and the role players are on there’s no more overwhelming force in the league outside of San Francisco.
They’re just 4-3 so far and yes, I’m doing the same thing I cautioned against doing with the Suns, but this team is going to be an absolute menace and I don’t even think it’s Billy Donovan making the difference, the frontline talent when healthy remains simply unfair.
Why Jeff?
Before Morris even let go that square-up J on Ibaka, Hornacek yelled, "All day, Markieff" #SunsAtThunder
— Paul Coro (@paulcoro) November 9, 2015
The Markieff Morris multiple jab step contested jumpers is one of my least favorite shot genuses in basketball.
It’s the least efficient shot in the game, not being shot by an elite gunner and to boot he insists on taking them with a man in his face.
Jeff has been a proponent of the mid-range game in the past, and maybe he had a feeling Markeiff was going to hit it, but I hate that he’s happy with that shot.
For all the complaints about the disgruntled big man’s play so far and ridiculous accusations of him tanking games, Morris is 22nd in the league in plus-minus. Eliminate the lazy shots and that number will only go up.