The Oklahoma City Thunder have found their way back to success after the bankruptcy at the Dallas Mavericks and clearly beat the Phoenix Suns with 118:101. Dennis Schröder experienced an evening with light and shadow.
OKC continues to gain ground in the west and had no problems at all with the again weak Suns for a long time. Russell Westbrook was not missed at all, the guests from the desert seemed to have no chance at all. The superstar still had problems with his ankle on his 30th birthday, so Dennis Schröder had to start again.
However, the German had a play with light, but also with shadows. Defensively the Guard was very engaged, had fast two Steals on the account, from which also his first Dunk of the season resulted. Otherwise Schröder had a hard time and was looking for his rhythm in the first run, the next eleven throws were all tickets.
But since Paul George and Steven Adams (18) were in a much better mood, the Thunder already gained a lead of 28 points in the first half. On the other hand, Devin Booker (19, 7/18 FG) and Deandre Ayton (14, 5 TO) remained pale, especially in the first half.
But after the change, the guests reared up a bit again, with Rookie Mikal Bridges (13) in particular standing out positively. The Suns won the quarter with 35:22 and once again created hope because veteran Jamal Crawford (13) also turned up the heat again.
The Shooting Guard shortened in the middle of the final section once again to 7 points, but then the Thunder reflected again and left nothing burning. Especially Schröder made a good impression in the second half and scored 18 of his 20 points (6/19 FG, 2/2 Dreier, 6/6 FT). In addition, the German national player had 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals with only one ball loss.
The best scorer of the hosts, however, listened to the name of Paul George, who scored 32 points (11/19 FG) and sunk six threes. At the Suns, T.J. Warren (21, 10/14 FG) collected the most counters.