October 27, 2026 at 5:19 AM UTC

Postgame Report

Thunder Stay Unbeaten Without Three Starters, Beat Suns 125-114

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With Jalen Williams hurt, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace out, and a back-to-back on the schedule, Oklahoma City still beat Phoenix by 11 behind 30 points from Ajay Mitchell.

The Thunder were supposed to be thin Monday night, and they were. They beat the Suns 125-114 anyway, without Jalen Williams, whose left lower leg injury Sunday against the Clippers was bad enough that he left on a stretcher. His availability going forward is unclear, and the game was played around his absence. Chet Holmgren (right patellar tendinitis) and Cason Wallace (left shoulder soreness) were also out, so three rotation players were gone before the opening tip.

The schedule made it harder. This was Oklahoma City's first back-to-back of the season, played at home a night after a 108-101 win over the Clippers that cost them Williams. A team 3-0 and short on bodies could reasonably have looked tired. The Thunder mostly looked like they had a plan for it.

Phoenix came in with its own storyline, its first win of the season, a 131-122 result over Golden State in which Devin Booker scored 43 and added seven assists. That Booker did not show up in Oklahoma City. He played a game-high 34 minutes and finished with 3 points and 7 assists. Jalen Green had 20, Dillon Brooks 19 and Miles Bridges 17 with eight rebounds, but the Suns could not make up for their best scorer's night.

Ajay Mitchell did the most damage, with 30 points in 25 minutes on 10-of-16 shooting and 9-of-10 free throws. The Thunder led 67-53 at halftime and never led by fewer than nine after that. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 26, and Jared McCain had 18. Isaiah Hartenstein had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Aday Mara had one of his own with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Oklahoma City is 4-0, and Phoenix drops to 1-2.

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