The Suns lost 84-119 to the Thunder on the road tonight as they visited the defending champions for Game 1 of their playoff series. Jalen Green spoke to the media at the postgame press conference and addressed his opinions of the Suns’ half-court defense tonight.
While talking about the Suns’ defence, Green seemed off about the officiating tonight and highlighted that they were not in tune with the playoffs’ energy.
“Yeah, I think so. I feel like there were a couple of bad calls for how we’re going to be playing in the playoffs and how the refs allowed them to play. They got to be both ways, or just call the same foul both ways. One or the other. It’s the playoffs, too, at the same time,” said Green.
“So, you want to be aggressive at the end of the day, so yeah, we just got to figure that out,” Green concluded.
The former second overall pick ended the night with 17 points, five rebounds, and one assist while going 6-16 from the field (37.5 FG%) and 2-7 from beyond the arc (28.6% 3P%).
But instead of pointing to their struggles on offense, Green felt that what the officials were allowing the Thunder players to get away with on defense should have a uniform application both ways.
While the Suns guard did not point towards a single player, he implied that the officials were not allowing them to be as aggressive on defense as they did with the Thunder.
This has been a persistent issue that the Suns have highlighted with the Thunder since the beginning of the regular season. Earlier, it was Devin Booker and Jordan Ott, but now it is also Jalen Green who feels this way.
But in my opinion, this was not the primary cause for the Suns’ loss tonight. They had 18 free-throw attempts as compared to the Thunder’s 23, with an eight-point differential in free-throw scoring. (13 made by the Suns, 21 by the Thunder).
Moreover, the Thunder (22) had more personal fouls called on them in comparison to the Suns (18). And the Thunder only had six turnovers, while the Suns had 17. The Thunder (13) had 10 more steals than the Suns (3).
Therefore, not taking care of the ball was a bigger cause for concern for the Suns than the officiating tonight. But it is noteworthy that 17 of the Thunder’s 23 attempts (73.9%) were taken by just one player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Addresses Drawing Fouls
Some might say that these comments from Green are a veiled jab at the number of fouls that officials give Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on a night where he could not get his offense going.
The Canadian guard clearly exploited the Suns’ team defense in several ways to get to the free-throw line. But the reigning MVP feels that his ability to draw fouls is what makes his offense elite.
Its a DISGRACE the best guard in basketball chooses to play like this 🤢🤢🤢
The league has to stop rewarding this or else the game will die 👊 pic.twitter.com/eHDWNXmKbl
— Jacob (@Jacobtheclipper) April 20, 2026
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also spoke to the media at the postgame press conference. He was asked about what goes into the frequent visits to the free-throw line that he has been criticized for throughout the season.
“When you drive the ball a lot, you get fouled a lot just because most of the fouls happen on drives, and I drive the ball a lot, so that probably adds up to it.”
“But yeah, I’ve just tried to get better at many aspects over the years that I’ve been in the league, trying to attack team defenses in multiple ways. I feel like I’ve done so and scored a few points because of it,” said Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Canadian guard finished the night with 25 points, seven assists, and four rebounds while shooting only 27.8% from the field (5-18 FG) and scored 15 of his points from the free-throw line in 17 attempts.
The Thunder are now heading into Game 2 with a 1-0 advantage in the series. They host the Suns on Wednesday, April 22, at the Paycom Center.
Do you think it will be a repeat of tonight’s domination, or will the Suns figure out their flaws and fix them in two days to bounce back strong? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
