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After a week's wait, the Oklahoma City Thunder finally learned their Round 1 opponent of the 2026 NBA playoffs. They will face the eighth-seed Phoenix Suns. Like the last two years, they had to wait out the play-in tournament to figure out their matchup.
The Thunder finishes with an NBA-best 64-18 regular-season record and plus-11.1 point differential. Expect Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win back-to-back MVP awards. Carrying over their dominance from last year, they enter as the title favorite.
Meanwhile, the Suns continue to enjoy being one of the best feel-good stories. They went an impressive 45-37 in the regular season. They clinched a playoff spot in a do-or-die scenario with a 111-96 win over the Golden State Warriors.
In their season series, the Thunder had a 3-2 record against the Suns in five matchups. Let's look back at all five games as they prepare to battle it out in the 2026 NBA playoffs:
Nov. 28. 2025: Thunder 123, Suns 119
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Holding off the Suns, the Thunder added to their historic regular-season start with a close win. Not only did this count toward the NBA Cup group play, but it also marked Jalen Williams' season debut. He missed the first month recovering from wrist surgery.
The Thunder were in control for most of the night. Gilgeous-Alexander had his best game against the Suns with 37 points on 10-of-20 shooting and eight assists. He baited Phoenix into a 14-of-17 free-throw outing. As Phoenix mounted a comeback, he scored 15 points in the final frame to put this one away. Holmgren had 23 points and eight rebounds to help out.
For the Suns, Collin Gillespie was their top scorer with 24 points and shot 6-of-11 from 3. Devin Booker only had 21 points and six assists. This continued the trend where the Phoenix NBA superstar has historically struggled against OKC. Not much else to really say, as they couldn't hit on their outside jumpers.
Considering this was six months ago, it's difficult to take anything away from it for their playoff series. Gillespie had an awesome start to his season, but has really petered out in recent months. Don't think you can rely on him to be a big-time contributor. Gilgeous-Alexander might need to lean on turning Phoenix's aggressiveness against them, though.
A full recap can be read here.
Dec. 10, 2025: Thunder 138, Suns 89
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In an NBA Cup rematch, the Thunder sent the Suns home as they punched their ticket to Las Vegas. This was a complete dissection as OKC led by as many as 53 points. Unreal. The 49-point win is so ridiculous that it's difficult to really apply any lessons from it. That's how absurd this was.
Gilgeous-Alexander had an efficient 28 points in three quarters. Holmgren had 24 points and eight rebounds. The Thunder shot an unreal 22-of-40 (55%) from 3. Pair that with the 20 turnovers they created, and this is the final recipe. A complete one-sided affair that turned historic as it signaled Phoenix's worst loss in franchise history.
The only upside is that Booker and Green were out, so you can kinda explain this away. But still, I mean, sheesh. When the Thunder get it going on defense like this, they're unbeatable. Playing lockdown defense while causing havoc in the passing lanes is how OKC won one championship. It hopes to repeat the formula for another.
Considering the Thunder have had a week off and the Suns have played two high-leverage games, Game 1 could follow a similar script. Ask last year's Memphis Grizzlies, who exited Game 1 in a 1-0 series hole after a historic 51-point loss.
A full recap can be read here.
Jan. 4, 2026: Suns 108, Thunder 105
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Building up an 18-point cushion, this is one of the top candidates for the Thunder's most annoying losses of the regular season. It felt like once they got up by double-digit points, they let go of the rope. Eventually, that allowed the Suns to get confidence and turn this into a clutch-time situation.
Playing great one-on-one defense, Alex Caruso was on the wrong side of a game-winner. Booker nailed a deep 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left. Not much you can complain about that one. Great defense and even greater shot-making by a Phoenix all-time great.
This is the version of the Thunder you hope to avoid in the NBA playoffs. Especially on offense. Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 points but on an inefficient 8-of-22 shooting. Williams had 23 points and seven assists. Holmgren had 18 points and nine rebounds. Nobody else had anything really going on as OKC shot an ugly 31.3% from 3.
Meanwhile, things were the opposite for the Suns. Jordan Goodwin had one of his best games ever. He dropped 26 points and shot 8-of-13 from 3. Dillon Brooks had 22 points and came up with some clutch buckets. Booker finished with 24 points and nine assists. He went 13-of-15 on free throws.
A full recap can be read here.
Feb. 11, 2026: Thunder 136, Suns 109
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Without Gilgeous-Alexander and Booker, the Thunder's depth out-flexed the Suns'. Williams had his best game of the season. He scored an unreal 28 points on 11-of-12 shooting before it ended on a sour note. He re-aggravated his hamstring strain and was out for three weeks.
Besides that, the Thunder won this in the middle quarters. They shot a ridiculous 58.4% from the field and went 41.7% from. 3. They had five bench players score double-digit points. Just unreal offensive production — especially without Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Booker-less Suns had a decent showing on that end of the floor, but they bled points. Goes to show that if they want to make things interesting in this Round 1 series, it'll need to be with low-scoring games. They don't have the bonafide scorers to put up video-game-esque numbers on OKC's league-best defense.
No Gilgeous-Alexander and Booker kinda tosses this out the window. I guess you could be impressed with what Williams does at the peak of his scoring powers. He was unconscious on his drives to the rim and around the mid-range. If the Thunder can get that — even if it's in spurts — then they should make light work of the Suns.
A full recap can be read here.
Apr. 12, 2026: Suns 135, Thunder 103
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This is the least relevant of the bunch. Required to play this out of necessity, the Thunder and Suns both ran out their C squads. They were locked in their spot in the standings at first place and seventh place, respectively. No need to risk any needless injury in the regular-season finale.
The Thunder were run off the floor from the jump. They trailed by as many as 32 points. I know this had zero stakes, but still a little embarrassing to see that happen in front of your home fans. By the end of the first quarter, this one was over. With the first seed locked up, OKC shaved off some of its net rating and point differential for sure-fire health.
Jamaree Bouyea had 27 points and nine assists. Maybe he can play a role in this playoff series if the Suns need a shot of adrenaline. Nikola Topic had 18 points and 14 assists. That was cool to see, but he won't see any meaningful minutes in the NBA playoffs — barring something wild like Ajay Mitchell's Game 1 minutes in the 2025 NBA Finals.
But yeah, nothing else to really take from this. You can skip this one. Just cool to see the Thunder welcome back the Suns again. Quite the juxtaposition of consequences from last Sunday's regular-season finale to this Sunday's Game 1 of the NBA playoffs.
A full recap can be read here.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Looking back at 5 matchups between Thunder, Suns before 2026 NBA playoffs
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