Shai's MVP dominance, Williams' All-NBA resurgence, and Holmgren's two-way impact headline bold predictions for the Thunder-Suns playoff showdown.
The Oklahoma City Thunder tip off their 2026 postseason on Sunday afternoon at The Paycom Center.
OKC hosts the feisty Phoenix Suns for Game 1 of their first round matchup. This will be the first playoff meeting between the two teams in league history. And I'm gonna make a handful of guesses about how this series will ultimately shake out.
1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the series MVP. Okay, this one is low hanging fruit. Pretty Captain Obvious of me to choose the soon to be back to back Most Valuable Player of the league as the best player in a first round matchup. But Devin Booker is a top 15 player in the world, Jalen Green turned into Michael Jordan of the play-in tournament and OKC has two other All-Stars on their squad, so Gilgeous-Alexander does at least have some competition for the title. That said, the heart of the prediction is that it will be very apparent to everyone watching that the Thunder superstar is the best player on the court every game.
2. Jalen Williams reminds everyone that he's still an All-NBA talent. The steal of the 2022 NBA Draft was OKC's second leading scorer, second playmaker and second best overall player during last year's run to the championship. This season has dealt Williams an unfortunate string of injuries and setbacks. But every time, he has come back and shown off his All-Star talent. After a couple of healthy weeks to ramp up before the playoffs, Williams says he has fresh legs for the postseason. That's bad news for the rest of the West.
3. Chet Holmgren dominates on both ends. All due respect to Mark Williams, Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach, a trio consisting of a solid starter and two very promising young backups, but the Thunder seven footer is far and away the best big in this series. In four games against Phoenix this season, Holmgren averaged 19.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks on 64.4% from the field, 53.3% from deep and a true shooting percentage of 75.6%. OKC averaged a +15.5 plus minus when he was on the floor. And all that was while averaging only 27.5 minutes per game.
4. Dillon Brooks receives a technical foul. If Brooks goes out, he's going to go out in a blaze of glory.. err.. fury.
5. Thunder win in 5. To their credit, the Suns were one of the biggest surprise teams in the entire NBA this season. Brooks has brought a new attitude, swagger and physicality that transformed the franchise. Booker and Brooks are surrounded by a multitude of sharpshooting role players who can catch fire. Green is a wildcard that can shoot the Suns in or out of any game any given night. I think Phoenix steals one game and keeps a couple other games close and competitive. But OKC has too much talent, too much defense, too much fight and too much Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.