Thunder beats Suns 97-69 for fourth straight blow out

Tonight was another fantastic performance by the Thunder. Going into Phoenix for their fourth and final meeting with the Suns, Oklahoma City came out with a 97-69 victory.

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin

Oklahoma City's suffocating and stingy defense forced 15 turn overs tonight, and shut down the Sun's big men Luis Scola and Marcin Gortat for the second consecutive game. The two seven footers combined for just 6-19 shooting for 12 points, helping the Thunder hold the Suns to just 33% from the field and 28% from the arc.


The first quarter was ran by floor general Honey-Badger, who had 9 points on just 2-5 shooting, but was able to find himself on the line quite often, making all four of his first quarter free throws. Kevin Durant was cold - going just 1-5 in the period (0-2 from downtown), leading to a relatively low scoring quarter. Thabo Sefolosha made the shots when KD couldn't, going 2-2 from three for 6 points.


Thabo would have another career night. Just a game after he set a career-high with four made three pointers and a season-high 18 points, he proved again tonight that he's not just a defensive specialist - and that he has the capacity to be another option for the Thunder when others aren't. He went off for a new season-high 19 points and a new career-high 5 made three pointers - Proving that he's becoming one of the Thunder's deadly threats from down town, which will help the Thunder space the floor down the stretch of the season.


The Thunder would end the first quarter with an 8-2 run and an exclamation point of a buzzer beater with another Thabo' 3.


Phoenix would start the second quarter on the same note they ended the first, a sloppy play leading to a turn over. Who came away with the steal you ask? Thabo Sefolosha of course. The man was every where tonight, though the steal would lead to a missed three, it would be his only missed trey of the game


The Suns would go on a 14-4 run starting at the 10:16 mark, coming right out of a timeout, Closing the gap to four. Oklahoma City would respond with 19-6 of their own sparked by a big block by Perkins, followed by a barrage of Thunder steals and Phoenix missed shots. Thabo would lead the charge this time, dropping 2 more threes on 2-3 shooting to go along with the Russel's efficient 3-4 shooting and 8 points.


Oklahoma City struggled in the first half with corralling lose balls and rebounds - out rebounded 27-20 by the Suns. The Thunder's interior defense was suffering as well, giving up 22 points in the paint, but even then - Oklahoma City never trailed.


Then OKC decided they didn't like the Suns very much, and that they didn't want them to score anymore. Holding Phoenix to just 14 third quarter points on 33% shooting, The Thunder were able to score 9 of their 23 points on 8 Phoenix turn overs - and allowing no one on the roster to score more than 4 points. Oklahoma City still struggled on the glass this quarter, out rebounded again 13-7, but their efficient scoring and aggressive defensive allowed them to maintain a 74-48 lead going into the 12 minutes of hell, or so it was wrongly named.


More like 12 minutes of laughs and smiles - that's all you saw on the Thunder's player's faces. Why? Well the Thunder starters didn't play a minute of the fourth quarter, I thought they had already boarded the plane at one point.


The Thunder's bench was cleared, and garbage time was underway. Eric Maynor who many of you might remember, before the days of the "black-out" aka Reggie Jackson, he was the back-up point guard for Russell Westbrook. Now he's reduced to scrub minutes after failing to prove he still had what it took after coming back from an ACL injury last season.


Well Zombie Maynor showed a little life in garbage time, going 2-4 from the field for 5 points to go with his 2 assists. The Thunder out scored the Suns just 23-21 in the fourth, and ended the game by tying the Thunder's record for least-amount of points allowed in the game, a record set earlier this year while dismantling the Bobcats.


Thunder Essentials: 


Fast Break Points - A

The Thunder had another successful night in the break. Blowing the fire out on the Suns with their speed, Oklahoma City was able to score 20 fast break points, and had excellent recovery defense as well, giving up just 9 FB points to the Suns.


Points in the Paint - C

Struggling both offensively and defensively down low, Oklahoma City gave up 36 points in the painted area to the Suns, and were able to barely scrape up 30 points of their own. While the Thunder were much more efficient than the Suns in the post, they still gave up 18 made baskets - a lot of them too easy. The Suns went the line just FIVE times tonight, while converting all of them, It would have been a better strategy to hack-a-big-man rather than giving up easy baskets, at least in my opinion.


Three Ball - A+

They didn't make 14 threes tonight, but the Thunder got close. They shot an impressive 52% from beyond the arc, going 9-17 - 5 of which came from Thabo Sefolosha, and one of which came from the Honey-Badger at the buzzer of the second quarter. The three wasn't about quantity tonight, but quality. They came at times that just sucked the moral from the Suns' players, and at times where they were already building a lead. Not to mention the Thunder beat both the first and second quarter buzzer beaters by a Thabo and Russ three, respectively.