Grading the interest levels of each Phoenix Suns NBA Cup game

3. Oklahoma City Thunder - Friday November 15th

The other game that will be played away from Phoenix is against the Oklahoma City Thunder, although there's quite a bit more to this game than the meeting with the Jazz. The Suns will roll into town likely looking to make it two wins on the bounce, which will give them a great chance of progressing to elimination play.

The intrigue takes a step up as well, because the Thunder were the top seed in the Western Conference last season. Behind point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander they are absolutely loaded as well, which make the Thunder a great measuring stick to see how close to contention the Suns truly are.

Guys like Chet Holmgren and Lu Dort are fun to watch because they are such an interesting foil to the key players on the Suns' roster. How center Jusuf Nurkic - an imperfect player who still has value - tries to stop a younger and offensively intelligent Holmgren will be worth tuning in for, while you know Dort will bring it on every possession to Booker.

A nice subplot here is also the fact that Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort were part of the Canada team that did not medal at the Olympic Games in Paris. They were also dealt a hiding by Team USA in exhibition play prior to the games beginning. They'll have a point to prove against the gold medal winning pair of Booker and Durant.

Excitement Rating - 5/10