OKLAHOMA CITY — Anxiously waiting around a week, the reigning NBA champions started their hopeful back-to-back journey similar to last year. A complete demolition of an eighth-seed that entered on tired-out legs. The two-plus-hour game morphed into a party for the uniformed OKC crowd.
The Oklahoma City Thunder completely destroyed the Phoenix Suns in a 119-84 Game 1 win. They led by as many as 39 points and opened up the Round 1 series with a 1-0 lead.
Entering the game, the Suns tried to manifest a gigantic Game 1 upset. Dillon Brooks verbalized it in front of national TV. He then antagonized Chet Holmgren with trivial activities by refusing to give him the ball before tip-off. Alas, none of that could prevent the inevitable.
Running back last year's classic, the Thunder started their playoff journey with a bang. Any intrusive thoughts were erased. The Thunder had a 35-20 lead after the first quarter. To exemplify how much things were going their way, Jaylin Williams threw a Hail-Mary pass to Holmgren for a turnaround outside jumper at the buzzer. Boom.
While the Suns have been an upper one-third defense, the Thunder reminded them why they're in their own tier. In a flow state, they forced a turnover every other possession. Devin Booker was swarmed as soon as the ball reached his hands. Poking the ball out of Phoenix's possession, Jalen Williams threw up an alley-oop to Cason Wallace as the scoreboard escalated — ala the original 'Space Jam.'
The Thunder scored 30 points in the second quarter. They scored a dozen straight at one point to balloon their advantage. They entered halftime with a 65-44 lead. Sheesh. This game was already over. Anybody hoping to beat Superman must do a better job. In Game 1, the Suns couldn't even scratch them up as they were pummeled.
Aside from a couple of moments where the Suns got it to below 20 points, the Thunder stiff-armed them in the second half. All of Jalen Green 's play-in tournament magic was gone. Brooks ensured Phoenix wouldn't get closer than 16 points in the second half as the ball was siphoned to him.
Struggling with his jumper, Gilgeous-Alexander leaned on getting to the free-throw line — something that folks swore wouldn't be possible in the NBA playoffs. The Thunder scored 32 points in the third quarter. They had a 97-66 lead at that juncture. The Suns' offense didn't even look recognizable or near an adequate NBA level.
After Brooks promised the Suns would steal Game 1, they were stumped at picking a lock. The fourth quarter turned inconsequential. Williams sliced his way through Phoenix's defense. Up 104-70 with seven minutes to go, the Thunder decided to clear their bench. They had 22 points in the final frame. Not even the Suns could pretty up the final score with garbage-time buckets.
The Thunder shot 45% from the field and went 14-of-46 (30.4%) from 3. They shot 21-of-23 on free throws. They had 28 assists on 42 baskets. Three Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 points and seven assists. Williams finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Holmgren had 16 points and seven rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Suns shot 35% from the field and went 13-of-39 (33.3%) from 3. They shot 13-of-18 on free throws. They had 16 assists on 29 baskets. Three Suns players scored double-digit points.
Booker struggled with 23 points and six rebounds. Brooks was egged on to have 18 points on 22 shot attempts. Green was quiet with 17 points and five rebounds.
Well, couldn't have dreamed up a better start to the Thunder's 2026 NBA playoff journey. Even though these are supposed to be high-leverage games, they made this into a snoozefest. Relying on becoming a turnover-creating machine to run their opponent out of the gym, OKC forced Phoenix to cough it up an eye-popping 19 times for 34 points.
This was quite the punch in the mouth. But the Thunder won't let it fool them — they know how excruciatingly long a playoff series can be. Even if it's a David-Goliath situation like this Round 1 matchup is. Expect the Suns to play better from here on out. So far, OKC has taken care of business. It must do the same in Game 2 to get a real hold of this playoff matchup.
Let's look at Thunder player grades:
Bringing the ball up in the final seconds of a dynamic first half, Gilgeous-Alexander had Ryan Dunn in front of him. The reigning MVP crossed over the Phoenix defender to create enough space. He skinnied his way through a couple of more defenders inside the paint for the circus layup finish.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 25 points on 5-of-18 shooting, seven assists and four rebounds. He shot 0-of-4 from 3 and went 15-of-17 on free throws. He also had two blocks.
After over a week off, Gilgeous-Alexander's jumper betrayed him. He missed a handful of bunnies he usually makes in his sleep. Both on his pull-up and his drives to the rim. But like the last couple of years, he continues the bad trend of sleepwalking through their Round 1 series.
You don't morph into a 30-point scorer on purely buckets, though. You need to figure out how to hack the free-throw line. Gilgeous-Alexander has mastered that. And its value was fully displayed here — even if it comes with its critiques. The Suns couldn't avoid fouling the drive-heavy scorer. He took an unreal 17 free-throw attempts by himself.
Each time Gilgeous-Alexander went to the free-throw line, the uniformed OKC crowd synchronized an MVP chant. He had 15 points in the first half. He added 10 more in the third quarter before he sat out the final frame. Reading the room, he didn't really force any shots. Instead, he enjoyed his fellow All-Star teammates picking up the load in this Game 1 bludgeoning.
We'll see if Gilgeous-Alexander gets better as he gains more reps. That seems to be his usual playoff journey. The deeper the Thunder get, the better he plays. Wasn't really consequential that he didn't completely torch the Suns as a scorer. He made up for it in other areas of his game.
Poking the ball out of Green's pocket, Williams sprinted the other way. Testing out his hamstrings, he threw down the two-handed jam to force the first of many timeouts. The 25-year-old flexed his muscles and screamed at the OKC crowd. The defense-to-offense sequence set the tone early.
Williams finished with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists. He shot 2-of-5 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had one steal and one block.
That's one way to soothe any concerns. Plagued by injuries, Williams is taking a fresh mind approach as the Thunder start their 2026 NBA playoff journey. Through the first chapter, he dazzled on both sides of the floor and looked like the guy who received Scottie Pippen comparisons last June.
Hoping to find a scoring rhythm, Williams was in his bag. He bullied his way to the rim for driving layups. When that didn't happen, he pulled up at his favorite mid-range spots. He even knocked down a couple of outside jumpers — the scoring level that has been his top nemesis this year.
Williams had 11 points in the first half. Usually in a Robin role, he had no problem cosplaying as Darkwing. He continued with a score-first mentality in the second half. Against the Suns' small frontcourt, they had no hope of slowing him from going downhill.
An awesome start to Williams' third playoff run. He usually experiences some rollercoaster-esque ups and downs. We'll see if that continues this year. But he was superb in the first of many playoff games for the Thunder. Safe to say they'll need this version of him more often than not.
Catching Williams' four-vertical-esque pass, Holmgren only needed one dribble. With Oso Ighodaro on his grill, he went with the turnaround outside jumper that swished in. That's one way to cap off a surreal first quarter — both for the team and himself.
Holmgren finished with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds. He shot 2-of-6 from 3 and went 4-of-4 on free throws. He also had two blocks and two steals.
A flawless start for Holmgren's playoff journey. Previewing this matchup, the Suns' lack of size set up the seven-footer to have a superbly efficient series. This is a great start to that. As the Thunder quickly zapped all interest in this primetime TV matchup, he helped out with 13 points in the first quarter.
Hovering in the paint, Holmgren had a couple of putback dunks. He also forced the Suns to foul him. Nobody could stay in front of the seven-footer — especially without Mark Williams . That will be a trend for the rest of the series. And could ultimately lead to the Thunder making quick work of their Round 1 series.
Headlining an iron-clad defensive performance, Holmgren's rim protection was fully displayed. The Suns couldn't depend on their drives. Ask Booker, who was loudly rejected on his weak-side help. That forced them to be a jumper-happy squad. Good luck with that. It involves way too much variance.
What a first quarter Holmgren had. He cooled off as a scorer the rest of the way, but it didn't matter. The Thunder completely dominated this one. It produced some funny-looking scores, such as 100-66. The Suns just never looked comfortable in the halfcourt. You can credit his gravity for that.
Going with the double drag screen, Hartenstein quickly rolled to the basket. Williams threw up the alley-oop attempt as the seven-footer threw down a one-handed jam. The Thunder kept their foot on the gas pedal to start the second quarter as they ran away on the scoreboard.
Hartenstein finished with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting, eight rebounds and two assists. He also had two blocks.
The week off did everybody good — but especially Hartenstein. Calf strains have limited him in the regular season. But he's ready to look past those in the NBA playoffs. He had an extra pep to his step. He even knocked down a patented floater. Feels like it's been forever since we've seen that.
Even though the Thunder dissected the Suns, the box score for this one was a little weird. They only had three players score double-digit points. Surprising considering they flirted with 120 points. All 14 players logged serious minutes. Only Nikola Topic was scoreless.
The Thunder will need this version of Hartenstein for the NBA playoffs. They survived without him for most of the regular season, but their double-big lineup has proven to be championship-caliber. Great start for him as he wasn't required to tax his legs too much in this blowout.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Thunder destroy Suns in 119-84 Game 1 win
