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The Oklahoma City Thunder are not worried about this first-round series. Nor should they be.
Frankly, the Phoenix Suns might not be worried, either. They can see the writing on the wall.
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My Suns vs. Thunder predictions and NBA picks expect at least one piece of Phoenix’s rotation to go down swinging, hopefully more figuratively than literally, in Game 2 on Wednesday, April 22.
Tip-off is set for 9:30 p.m. ET from the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, with the game airing on ESPN.
UPDATE: Added a prediction for who will win tonight.
Suns vs Thunder prediction
Who will win Suns vs Thunder Game 2?
Thunder: Oklahoma City is poised to notch its third straight sweep in the first round of the playoffs.
This series may be only 1-0 right now, but anyone who watched Game 1 knows what more to expect: a one-sided rout that loses your attention at halftime if you’re not sweating a player prop.
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Suns vs Thunder best bet: Dillon Brooks Over 17.5 points (-110)
Here comes desperation. Not from the Oklahoma City Thunder, of course, but from the Phoenix Suns.
Losing Game 1 by 35 should make the Suns’ plight rather clear. A similar beatdown in Game 2 would create an absolutely deflated atmosphere in Phoenix for Game 3 on Saturday.
No one will embody that desperation more openly than Dillon Brooks. He has never been known for concealing his emotions.
Brooks already chucked plenty in Game 1, partly out of necessity. Phoenix knows it is out-gunned. It needs its backcourt of Brooks, Devin Booker, and Jalen Green to get hot and stay out, and even then, the Suns may not have enough.
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Thus, Brooks went 6-for-22 from the field for 18 points. As inefficient as that may be, it is simply what Phoenix needs.
Counting Game 1, Brooks has cleared this modest prop in three of his last five games, averaging 18.2 points. Perhaps more pertinently, he has taken 14.8 shots per game. That latter number should stay elevated in this series, for better or for worse, thus elevating Brooks’s scoring output.
