#8 Suns at #1 Thunder | Full Game 1 Highlights | April 19, 2026

Welcome to one of the country's most passionate NBA cities. It's also home to the NBA's reigning champs, Oklahoma City. It's game one in OKC, Thunder and Sons. No Mark Williams, the starting center for Phoenix. He is hurt again, so it will be Iguodoro in the middle. Jordan Goodwin, who had a big game and a win for Phoenix against Oklahoma City during the regular season, along with Brooks, Green, and Booker. We'll see a lot of Dylan Brooks on check. Game two here Wednesday. Game one underway at KCOM Center. Missed as much time as he did, yet the Thunder still won an NBA best 64 games. Another missed three, batted out by Iguodoro. Brooks will try it again. This one's good. Shot clock down to five. Brooks challenging home run. He lost his footing and lost the ball. And out in space, Booker will take it himself for the easy two. It's Phoenix's ninth in defense during the regular season. Oklahoma City, number one. Doored for three, and that's a good sign because he did not shoot it well during the regular season. It is just a million reasons, but they're the best team in a brutal Western conference. Like, the consistency is insane to me. Longtime college assistant and head coach gets an opportunity to be an NBA GM. Done a very good job putting this group together. Holmgren from the free throw line, ties it up at seven. First point for Chet Holmgren, a career high 17 points per game. Gillespie's three. Nice defense by Holmgren. With the steal, Hardenstein with the slam. Live ball turnovers, particularly those in the middle of the floor. That is absolute death against Oklahoma City. And Holmgren, an all-NBA defender among the leaders in blocks, got the steal. Great play by Jalen Green as Holmgren was trying to swat it. Green gets his first bucket. He's got unbelievable athletic burst. You saw it on the first step there. Four minutes gone by. Phoenix by three. Williams will pop for three, and it's good for Jalen Williams. So good one going out forces everybody to step up a matchup, so their jobs defensively become much harder. Good steal. And Williams will take it himself, five quick ones. So Booker gets both free throws. Phoenix back within four. He's defending Holmgren right now, who lost his footing. Hardenstein cleans it up though inside. Many of the Thunder starters have not played in about 11 days. They did not play the last couple of games of the regular season. Great pass by Gilgis Alexander, his third assist. Caruso with the finish. Yeah, Caruso is an excellent off-ball cutter. Just does such a good job finding gaps. Booker on the cut. Rejected by Holmgren. Gilgis Alexander racing down court. Up and under move, and the score. Can't knock down the three, but there's Mitchell with a second chance opportunity. Great find, but the miss. Holmgren there with the putt. Came out of the last break. They were six for nine in the paint. There's another paint delivery. And on this end, the Suns have missed eight in a row. That ends, though, on the three by Jalen Green. Mitchell driving, puts on the break. Shot clock inside of 10. Mitchell through the lane. Has it blocked by Green? But it ends up in the hands of Holmgren for his easiest bucket maybe of the year. No good. Caruso goes flying in there to get the rebound and keeps the play alive. That's what he does. What a handle by Gilgis Alexander. He is something else. First of all, the turnovers, the domination on the glass by Oklahoma City. Dunn on the cut. Lost the handle. Ripped away by Jalen Williams. 2.7 left. Baseball pass down court. Holmgren on the catch. Gets it away in time, and hits. You're just looking for answers, and you don't have many options. Gillespie with two to shoot. Gets it away in time, and connects on his second three-pointer. Houston last year at 38 in game two in their first round loss to the Warriors. Rob was in the other games. He didn't do much offensively. He lost the ball here. Turns it over. Mitchell steps into a three. AJ Mitchell. 13 to 2. Points off turnovers now in favor of the Thunder. Mitchell, same spot. Same result, back-to-back threes for AJ Mitchell. Largest lead for the Thunder at 19. You want to know in what way Oklahoma City is different and better than a season ago? That is one big answer right there, AJ Mitchell. Another Phoenix turnover. Williams, no look to Wallace for the slam. And when you get clean looks like that, those are the shots you have to have. Williams brought the ball high. Overachieved this season. They played Wednesday. They played Friday. They tip at 230 local. They are outnumbered. A 25-point lead. The Suns have just 24 points in 17 minutes played. They get two here on the floater from Goodwin. Also last year offensively in the finals, he had two 20-point games. Wallace with the slam off the LEO pass from Williams. The onslaught continues. And their speed changing ends is ridiculous. It's a 25-point lead. Brooks, no good, off the heel, batted out by Aguedaro. Booker pulls up and scores. Let it fly. Williams trying to cross over Aguedaro. Jump shot on the baseline, switches home for Williams. And since he returns, like, I've been impressed with his passing game. But he, that secondary ball handling skill, critical. Dillon Brooks, no. Sam Presti just letting him do his thing and doing his own work and trusting Dignol, vice versa. And that's why they've been, record-wise, the best team in the league. Green's free pointer, no good. Rebounding Aguedaro. Just six points for Jalen Green after 71 in the two play-in games. Brooks fouled and count the basket. A four-point chance. Brooks walks into a three. That one's no good. Batted out again. Aguedaro is doing work right now. I love it. Look at this. So it's, this is about it. On the switch, Aguedaro's got Giltus Alexander. He'll take the three. Long rebound, Mitchell. Now, Giltus Alexander drives. Hero step. Bank is good. Phoenix turnovers, just 13 baskets. Doric drives, binds Jalen Williams. Floater is good for J-Dub. Doric drives. The skip to home run. His three is there. He's played elite defensively. Minute to go in the half. Unable to answer is Ryan Gunn, but Booker gets another chance and he knocks down the triple. Assignment will be Jalen Williams. Here's SGA with five seconds to go in the half. Giltus Alexander puts the brakes on. Now starts again, drives and scores with the left hand. What a gorgeous- Two on Wednesday. Brooks short on the three. And Booker saves underneath to O'Neal. On the baseline, Green hits. Dave, you'll notice that Royce O'Neal is out on the floor and that's because Jordan Goodwin has been ruled out of the remainder of this game with left calf soreness and he will- And what they're looking to do here is create more opportunities to score. They feel like their offense is really what needs to get rolling here, guys. Thanks, Malika. That's bad news on Goodwin. He's a very good defender. And to your point about Jalen Green, is he gives it up to Dee Book. Like, he's still figuring it out. He's still so young, but that ability right there. Sun's still hanging around. Down 17. Nice feed. Nicotero met by Giltus Alexander for the block. The wingspan of SGA. Big reason why year in, year out he's one of the NBA leaders in steals. Reverse layup good by Jalen Williams. His first point to the third. Booker trying to get unlocked, but so hard against multiple defenders. Brooks with two. Takes it. Rejected by Jalen Williams. This has worked more than 200. Sean Wright also on this crew. He's worked more than 100. And this is year 19 for Mark Lindsey, the third official, as Booker drills a three. And they played on Tuesday in the play-in, then Friday, quick turnaround to play Sunday afternoon as they give up a dunk here to Doerr. They started 24 and one, went 500 over about a 30 game stretch, but closed out the year 19 and three. Hartstein offensive rebound off the Giltus Alexander miss. Williams hits it. Nicotero not a threat to shoot, but he is to drive and throw it down, but he's met by Hartstein and it's sent back. And that's the thing about Oklahoma City. We talked about Phoenix overcoming injuries. I mean, Jalen Williams misses 50 games. Hartstein misses half the year and they still have the best record in the league. O'Neal knocks down a three. Is Jalen Green on him on the switch? Going to work. Doubled and gives it up to Williams. Shot clock at two. Williams trying to split the double. Great handle and it goes up and under for the layup. He also has six assists. Brooks attacks, hangs it, finish it. And 10 seconds on the shot clock now. Doerr will try it again. Got it that time. Brooks gets past Giltus Alexander and Banks it in, challenging Holmgren. Okay, how about the back? Was the 12th pick in the 2022 draft. Giltus Alexander finds Mitchell and another Oklahoma City three. The ninth for the Thunder. Pushed out and now Jalen Williams back on the court. Missed the three and a foul inside. And must get going. Couple days off in between games. Game two Wednesday. Points off turnovers, 29 to two in favor of Oklahoma City in this game. Elbow pull-up goes for Devin Booker, who's got 22. So many different coaches did a great job that his name isn't mentioned, but given the injuries they had to win 64 games, it is a magnificent season. Giltus Alexander drives and kicks. Williams for three. Got it with 6 tenths of a second. Together in the wake of tragedy and the Thunder always keep in mind, they're a part of a community that was irreplaceably changed there. With 15 consecutive games, he missed on a stretch because of that foot stress reaction. Green attacking. Nice footwork and the finish. This does have a different feel as that's poked away from Green. Williams with a slam in transition. A different feel, though, with 8.02 to go. Suns have shot it poorly, but also that Thunder defense, phenomenal. Brooks, mid-range shot is good. Under Mark Dagnall, the Thunder 0-8 in first-round games. He's the third coach in NBA history to start out 8-0 in the first round. Teams essentially emptying the benches, although the Thunder have guys on the floor that have played in the finals just because of how deep they are, but you got Bouyer checking into the game along with Fleming who knocks down the three, the rookie out of St. Joe's. Then get ready, try to regroup for game two. Against a well-rested Thunder team is McCain from mid-range. Three-point shooter. He can deck it as well. He'll compete defensively. Nice shot by Gillespie. But even coach told us pregame, he is very close. It's a left hamstring that's the issue for him. No issue for the Thunder. Of the first round last year by 51, so that's plus 85 in the last two opening games of the first round. How about Fleming? Well, a lot of discussion, right, about San Antonio. Expectation inside the organization is they're ready to compete, but obviously playoff experience for some of their team. Rather than what it was like to hoist the trophy last year to keep them locked in and motivated this postseason. That football was interesting when you asked J. Dub about that. He said, I'm actually trying to remember the feeling of losing. The Lakers winning by nine. Great win for L.A. last night over Houston as Kovacs checks in. Here's McCain for three yesterday. I think he's put that on display since he's been there. It's like he's got an all-around floor game in addition to the deadly three-point shooting. And the Thunder taking one step today, small step, but a step in the direction of trying to get to that repeat as well. And Williams with the layup. So leading scorers for Oklahoma City, Game one of that series is coming up, but game two will be on ESPN Wednesday. So we just got this note here. This is crazy. The Thunder will be the second team ever to win playoff openers by 30 or more points in consecutive years. The Lakers did it in 1986, 1987. They keep setting records. Another historic day for the Thunder as they roll the Suns 119 to 84 to take a one-nothing series lead.