OKLAHOMA CITY — Using a 34-24 fourth-quarter advantage, the Oklahoma City Thunder completed the 15-point comeback win against the Phoenix Suns, 124-120.
The packed Sunday crowd enjoyed a classic that saw All-Stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Devin Booker exchange buckets. Both scored 40 points in this game — Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 40 points and Booker finished with 46 points.
With each positive Thunder play late in the second half, the crowd’s reaction grew louder with cheers to the point that it was near deafening. Considering how pivotal this game — and really, every game from here on out — is, it was an appropriate full house against a team with championship aspirations.
“The crowd was the difference in the game tonight,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “That was huge. We need that every night. Every home game from here on out. They were massive.”
It seems like Josh Giddey agrees with that too.
“That was the loudest I’ve heard it in my two years here,” Giddey said about the crowd.
The pinnacle of the crowd’s cheers came at the 5:46 mark of the fourth quarter as an Isaiah Joe 3 pushed OKC’s lead to 108-102.
After trailing the Suns 100-90 with 10 minutes left in the game, the Thunder went on an 18-2 run to give themselves their first lead since the first score.
“We got on the doorstep a couple of times and then they kept extending the lead,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “… We got off to a tough start in the fourth (quarter) but we strung a couple together and swung some momentum… I thought the key to that type of win is staying alive long enough for when the game turns.”
That’s exactly what the Thunder did.
Trailing by 12 points heading into halftime, the Thunder snapped out of their sleepy play in the second half as they outscored the Suns, 67-51.
With Deandre Ayton out, the Thunder feasted inside of the paint and outscored the Suns, 56-40. The Thunder also enjoyed a significant free-throw advantage as they outshot the Suns from the charity stripe, 29-of-36 (80.6%) to 17-of-24 (70.8%). Gilgeous-Alexander led the way in that department with a career-high tying 19 attempts.
The Thunder have now won four of their last five games and continue to strengthen their odds to make the playoffs. An impressive home win against a Suns squad sans Kevin Durant will definitely help with that cause.
Even without Durant, the Suns had a legitimate chance to win their third consecutive game against…
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