Mikal Bridges received his second-career start as the Suns tipped-off against the Thunder on Saturday night.
Bridges opened up the game for the Suns as he knocked down a three to put his team on the board. He followed it up with another hit from deep as the Suns took an 11-9 lead early in the first quarter.
It was a constant back-and-forth battle through the first half as neither team could take much of an advantage. Paul George would help lead the Thunder to a five-point halftime lead, but it was still either team's game.
The Thunder caught fire out of the break as they went up by as many as 18 early in the third quarter. The Suns would fight their way to just a 10-point deficit, but the Thunder heated back up and pushed it back to 17.
The game would be played by spurts from there on in the fourth with the Suns bringing it to within single-digits to the Thunder going on a run to push their lead back to 10-plus.
Bridges and T.J. Warren hit back-to-back threes to make it just a six-point game, but the Thunder would ultimately close out the game with a 110-100 victory over the Suns.
“After (it got close) we just have to lock in,” Deandre Ayton said. “But we showed effort, trying to fight back. We competed. They just made their shots and got to the line more than us. I’m just glad we had effort. I know that we played and I know that we competed. The emotions were flowing on the bench; everybody was really into it. I know we gave it a lot tonight.”
Warren scored a team-high 23 points as he extended his career-long streak with at least 20 points to five straight games. Ayton got it done in the paint as he finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 19 points and 9 rebounds.
Bridges showed off his two-way ability as the rookie shined on both ends of the court.
“He’s performing,” Devin Booker said about his teammate. “He’s getting the opportunity and coming out ready to play. He’s not backing down from any matchup and it shows. We knew that during the draft that he was a player; he showed it through his whole college career. He’s stepping right on the NBA floor and making an impact right away.”
Offensively, Bridges put up 14 points on four-of-seven shooting while knocking down three three-pointers. He also fought for a career-high four steals and two blocks while going head-to-head against Paul George.
“I think he has a very good game,” Head Coach Igor Kokoskov said about how Bridges played against George. “He was following game plan, made some mistakes, which is expected we can expect that from young guy. But, I think overall he was very, he was competing, he was playing hard, he was following game plan."
Booker has notched back-to-back double-doubles for the first time in his career as he scored 18 points to go along with 11 rebounds and only one turnover.
“It’s important,” Bridges said about Booker's playmaking. “They’re helping off of him and leaving us wide open shots. Once we start knocking them down I think it will become even easier for him because then maybe they’re going to start helping less and it will be easier for him to get to the rim and score.”
The Suns hit the road as they head to Philadephia to tip-off against the 76ers on Monday. Be sure to catch the action on Fox Sports Arizona.