The Phoenix Suns’ season ended Monday night with a 131-122 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and first-year head coach Jordan Ott pointed to the details that swung the game in OKC’s favor.
“Well, I’ll talk more about the game,” Ott said. “I don’t know what the data showed, but it felt like every time we had a crack, they hit something.”
Oklahoma City shot 50% from 3-point range and built a 75-67 halftime lead behind efficient shot-making, while Phoenix tried to hang around with a strong shooting start of its own.
Ott said he did not view the game as a transition issue. “They only had five steals, so a lot of them must have been in the half court,” he said.
The Thunder’s ability to score without giving Phoenix many easy chances was a major problem for the Suns, especially once Shai Gilgeous-Alexander found rhythm in the first half.
“I thought at times we had Shai early,” Ott said. “He couldn’t get a shot off and then he had that spurt that really hurt us in the first half, but overall ended the possession game even.”
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points, while Chet Holmgren added 24 and Isaiah Hartenstein posted 18 points and 12 rebounds as Oklahoma City completed a four-game sweep.
Ott credited both sides for the offensive level of the game. “I think both teams obviously played really well on the offensive end,” he said. “Thought it was a hell of a battle.”
Phoenix did make a push in the second half, cutting a 15-point deficit to 106-98 entering the fourth quarter, and Ott said the Suns found more space for their ballhandlers.
“We got him loose a little bit freer in space,” Ott said about Devin Booker in the second half. “We were probably better spaced around him.”
He added that the adjustments helped Phoenix get back into the game for a stretch. “I thought he had that really good spurt where it helped all of us get back into it there in the third quarter,” Ott said in reference to Booker. “And then his shot making down the stretch was elite.”
Asked to reflect on his first season as a head coach, Ott said he was still processing it. “I tried to stay in the moment,” he said. “I do think there’s a sense of pride with this group.”
Ott also pointed to how much the group fought against one of the league’s best teams. “We can only help so much. We can only talk to them so much,” he said. “They got to go out there and perform.”
He closed by stressing what the season meant in broader terms. “Off the cuff, we all can feel proud of what this team did, not only over the course of the entire season, but tonight as well.”
