The Phoenix Suns fell to 1-2 on the young season on Monday, as an Oklahoma City Thunder opponent coming off the back of losing two of their best players, most likely for the season, was still able to take care of business. Head Coach Jordan Ott tried Miles Bridges at center as part of a small-ball lineup, and it was an experiment he won't be repeating against this opponent anytime soon.
Thunder too big and physical to try and outsmart with smaller group
In defense of Coach Ott, there wasn't a whole lot else he could do. Oso Ighodaro was again missing due to injury, while part of the appeal of trading for Bridges was the potential for him to unlock different lineup combinations. Given the Suns' poor start to the campaign on the boards, the massive Thunder immediately took advantage of this approach.
Not only did the Thunder out-rebound the Suns 48-38 on the night (a figure that surprisingly is not worse), but they kept Devin Booker to a barely believable three points. Booker can't blame playing with smaller lineups as the reason for this, but it did allow the Thunder to throw different defenders his way while not having to worry about being dominated inside.
Reaching for a small-ball lineup was further proof that Coach Ott does not trust center Khaman Maluach to be their constant in the paint yet either. His 26 minutes came in large part because the Suns only had Duop Reath to back him up (Drew Timme is on a two-way contract and was unavailable for this one), and although he battled willingly, he simply is not skilled enough to take on a true contender all game long.
Suns already struggling to find best position for Bridges
This small-ball approach will likely work against other opponents, but it already points to the more worrying trend of how best to use Bridges. He's not big enough at the four to have a physical impact every night, and his skills overlap somewhat with Dillon Brooks. Bridges spoke about being a "matchup nightmare" for opponents at media day, but so far, we have yet to see that materialize.
His 17 points against one of the best teams in the league were acceptable, but when Booker can only give the Suns three points, we know we told you not to overreact; even by his standards, this was poor. Coach Ott knows that changes will have to be made. It just shouldn't involve using Bridges as a small-ball center again for a while, especially against OKC, even if the best use of his skills remains unclear.
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