Despite coming into the Emirates NBA Cup Quarter-Final with a ton of hope, it did not take long for the Oklahoma City Thunder to thoroughly dismantle the Phoenix Suns.
Devin Booker was badly missed, but in reality even he wouldn't have been able to stop what was a performance from the Thunder that showed just how far ahead of the Suns they are in the Western Conference.
Thunder showed everybody how to keep Collin Gillespie quiet.
This one was over after the first-quarter, and although the Suns tried on several occasions to mount a comeback, the defense of the Thunder was fantastic as always.
One of the key points of their game plan was to hound point guard Collin Gillespie and not allow him to get into any sort of rhythm, and it worked from the jump.
On the very first possession Cason Wallace stole the ball from him for an easy layup, and it didn't get much better from there. Gillespie finishing with only two points on the night.
Collin Gillespie haven’t dropped less than 12 points or took under 11 shots all season but today he wanna score zero and only shoot 4 times. This not no damn coincidence pic.twitter.com/zLUxfZE2y2
— Still Winning 🏆 (@YSMGWill) December 11, 2025
Head coach Jordan Ott yanked him from the game quicker than he usually would, while both Jamaree Bouyea and Jordan Goodwin looked better equipped to deal with the Oklahoma onslaught.
Gillespie did end up playing 26 minutes, but Bouyea had 28 while Goodwin wasn't far behind on 19. So how did the Thunder make Gillespie look so bad?
Not having to guard Booker or Jalen Green obviously helped, and that meant they always had a player who could pass as a forward, but was as quick as a guard, stay in front of Gillespie.
They were harassing him before he even crossed half court, and his four turnovers trailed only Royce O'Neale (five). It was just as well the Suns had Grayson Allen take on some playmaking duties, because the final score of 138-89 would have been even worse had he not.
On the other end of the court and it was much the same problem for Gillespie. He's as willing a defender as they come, but he's simply not physical enough to slow down the likes of Wallace, Jalen Williams or Lu Dort.
The Thunder were also smart in pressuring him at the top of the key when he had the ball in hand, and sagging off the other players so as to interrupt passing lanes. Maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all?
Gillespie is super effective when he can get off the ball to relocate and re-appear to take an open 3-pointer, but the Thunder's defense doesn't allow this to happen.
They both expected him to pass the ball early in the shot clock, clogging passing lanes to stop this, while they also switched and followed him around the court whenever he did manage to get the ball away.
This was by far Gillespie's worst game of the season, but we know he'll bounce back. The Suns thankfully don't have to play the Thunder every night, and at 24-1 they're on an all-time pace.
But the worry here is how easy the Thunder made it look to stop Gillespie. They might have had the perfect personnel to achieve this, but other opponents are surely going to follow suit.