Tag Archives: Brooks Barnhizer

Phoenix Suns vs. Thunder preview (Game 82 of 82)

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  • Phoenix Suns (44-37, 7th in the West) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (64-17, 1st in the West)
  • When: Sunday, 12 April 2026 at 7:30pm CST
  • Where: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
  • TV: FDSN-OK
  • Offensive Rating: PHX: 113.9 (18th) / OKC: 117.7 (7th)
  • Defensive Rating: PHX: 113.0 (10th) / OKC: 106.1 (1st)
  • Net Rating: PHX: 1.0 (16th) / OKC: 11.6 (1st)
  • Current Streaks: PHX: 5-5 in their last 10 games / OKC: Lost their last game, but won their previous 7 before that

The Tip-Off

The end. Though every year feels long when you first start it, by the time you reach the end, you relate to the age-old adage that relates to parents and their children: the days are long, but the years are short. As we head into another postseason where we are the favorites, let’s appreciate the day by day steps that we’ve had to take to get to this point. It may not always be pretty, but as our MVP continues to preach, it’s always consistent.

This is the fifth and final regular season meeting between the Thunder and Suns. Oklahoma City has won 3 of the 4 meetings, with the lone Suns’ victory coming on a Devin Booker game-winning 3.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -7.5
  • O/U: 212.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Alex Caruso – OUT (rest)
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – OUT (oblique injury management)
  • Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT (calf injury management)
  • Chet Holmgren – OUT (back)
  • Isaiah Joe – OUT (knee)
  • Ajay Mitchell – OUT (ankle injury management)
  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
  • Cason Wallace – OUT (toe)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (hamstring injury management)
  • Jaylin Williams – OUT (Achilles tendinitis)

PHX

  • Grayson Allen – OUT (hamstring)
  • Devin Booker – OUT (ankle injury management)
  • Dillon Brooks – OUT (finger injury management)
  • Collin Gillespie – Questionable (shoulder)
  • Jordan Goodwin – Questionable (ankle)
  • Jalen Green – Questionable (knee)
  • Haywood Highsmith – Questionable (knee injury management)
  • Royce O’Neale – OUT (knee injury management)
  • Mark Williams – Questionable (foot injury management)

Three Big Things

  1. Two-Way Players – Due to the fact that 2-way players can’t be on the playoff roster, this is the our final opportunity to see our 2-way players this season. Brooks Barnhizer, Branden Carlson, and Payton Sandfort have all contributed in some form and some way to this season. With the amount of injuries the Thunder have had, having three extra players (along with Chris Youngblood and Buddy Boeheim) has been of utmost importance for the sustainability of this team. Here’s the them going off in the final game of the season.
  2. Again, Health Above All – For the players that are going to be on the playoff roster, please stay healthy in this game. Lu Dort is out here chasing All-Defense Team glory and guys like Kenrich Williams, Aaron Wiggins, Jared McCain, and even Nikola Topic could play critical roles at various points in the playoffs.
  3. Reflection – Though the record may not show it, this year’s team is much better than last’s year team. They’ve had to battle through a myriad of injuries all season long (to the tune of 2nd most man-games missed) and have had to face new foes (hello, San Antonio) throughout the season. They’ve had to switch from being the hunters to the hunted and have done a good job handling that. But now begins what the Thunder have been battling for the entire season…hello, playoffs! Time to defend our crown.

 

Thunder @ San Antonio Spurs preview (Game 52 of 82)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (40-11, 1st in the West) @ San Antonio Spurs (33-16, 2nd in the West)
  • When: Wednesday, 04 February 2026 at 8:30pm CST
  • Where: Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, TX
  • TV: ESPN / FDSN-OK
  • Offensive Rating: SAS: 116.2 (11th) / OKC: 118.2 (4th)
  • Defensive Rating: SAS: 111.2 (3rd) / OKC: 105.6 (1st)
  • Net Rating: SAS: 5.0 (6th) / OKC: 12.6 (1st)
  • Current Streaks: SAS: 3-3 in their last 6 games (alternating W’s and L’s) / OKC: 3-3 in their last 6 games, but have won 2 in a row

The Tip-Off

You know, I used to get pissed off when teams used to sit their stars (or even starters) for nationally televised games. Like, why the hell would I tune in to watch your 12th guy off the bench get starter minutes. But now, I kind of get it. Teams that have deep playoff runs don’t have the same restful offseason as those that don’t make the playoffs or exit early. The Thunder played two more months of basketball than most teams in the Association. And they came into this season with the idea that they would play their same brand of basketball. It worked for the first two months of the season. But their brand of basketball and their insistence to win began to take it’s toll on them. And so, the Thunder are now in a position to try and find respites of rest in the schedule whenever possible, while having it be as legit as possible. Those injuries start to pile on and the best recipe is to find rest. And so now, I get it.

This is the fifth and final meeting of the regular season between these two teams. San Antonio won the first three meetings of the season in December that sent Thunder fandom into a deep, dark depression. The Thunder returned the favor in January, winning 119-98.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC +8.5
  • O/U: 217.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Alex Caruso – OUT (adductor)
  • Ousmane Dieng – OUT (Not With Team)
  • Lu Dort – OUT (knee)
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – OUT (abdominal strain)
  • Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT (eye)
  • Chet Holmgren – OUT (back)
  • Ajay Mitchell – OUT (abdominal strain)
  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
  • Nikola Topic – OUT (cancer treatment)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (hamstring)

SAS

  • Stephon Castle – Questionable (thigh)
  • Dylan Harper – Questionable (ankle)
  • Kelly Olynyk – Questionable (foot)
  • Jeremy Sochan – OUT (quad)
  • Lindy Waters III – OUT (knee)

Three Big Things

  1. Injury Bug – While OKC has been dealing with injuries the entire season, the injury bug finally hit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who will miss the next five games before the All-Star break and will also miss the All-Star game with an abdominal strain. The defending MVP has carried a heavy load this season, leading the Thunder to the best record in the league, while having to navigate consistent roster changes and injuries on a night to night basis. While it stinks to not have SGA out there, it is a good opportunity to get 2+ weeks of rest while only missing 5 games.
  2. Good Opportunity – Here I thought the Orlando game was going to be the sacrificial game. Turns out, it’s the Spurs game. I get it. Guys need rest, SGA is injured, and you’ve already played the Spurs four times this season. There’s not much to glean from another battle against a potential 2nd or 3rd round playoff opponent. But it is a good opportunity for guys like Jaylin Williams, Isaiah Joe, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins to expand their games and try new things. Remember when J-Will got all his triple-doubles last season late in the season when most of the starters were resting. Remember when it was almost guaranteed that Wiggins would get 25+ points when the starters sat late last season. Maybe this can be the Chris Youngblood “5 3-pointers made” game. Maybe Brooks Barnhizer will actually take an outside shot. Lots of opportunity for development.
  3. Welcome, Jared McCain – The Thunder didn’t wait until Thursday to strike on a trade. They made a couple moves that netted them Jared McCain from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a 2026 Houston first round pick and three future second round picks. In a lateral move, Ousmane Dieng and a 2029 2nd round pick were moved to Charlotte in exchange for Mason Plumlee, who was subsequently waived to create a roster spot for McCain. Dieng was then moved from Charlotte to Chicago in a separate trade. The idea of Dieng was always more hopeful than the actual production. Every time it seemed like Dieng was starting to carve out a role, an injury usually happened. By the time Dieng looked up, the team was on it’s way to contention and the developmental train had transformed into a hard-charging championship-contending train. But, hey, he got a championship ring out of it and was a Finals MVP for a G-League championship.

Thunder vs. Houston Rockets preview (Game 1 of 82)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0) vs. Houston Rockets (0-0)
  • When: Tuesday, 21 October 2025 at 6:30pm CST
  • Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
  • TV: NBC/Peacock

The Set-Up

What do you do when you’ve accomplished the goal you’ve set out to accomplish every year since your existence? Do you rest on your laurels and reminisce about how it felt to reach the mountaintop? Do you become the “y’all remember when” guy? Or do you recognize that to reach the mountaintop again, you have to, as Thunder GM Sam Presti would so eloquently put it, “divorce yourself from the past” and begin anew? The mantra of having a 0-0 mindset while stacking days will be tested this season. Everything this team does this season will be compared to last year. That happens when you bring back every rotational piece that helped you reach your goal. But with that continuity, does complacency creep in? Everyone is saying the right things. Now it’s time to show the right things. Ring night. Banner night. Then the new journey begins.

This is the first of three meetings this season against the Houston Rockets. Last season, the Thunder won the season series 3-2. They faced each other in the NBA Cup semifinals, where the Thunder emerged victorious on their way to the NBA Cup finals.

Betting Info (brought to you by FanDuel)

  • Line: OKC -7
  • O/U: 228

Injury Report

OKC

  • Isaiah Joe – OUT (knee)
  • Thomas Sorber – OUT (knee)
  • Nikola Topic – OUT (testicular surgery)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (wrist)
  • Kenrich Williams – OUT (knee)

HOU

  • Isaiah Crawford – Questionable (ankle)
  • Dorian Finney-Smith – OUT (ankle)
  • Jae’Sean Tate – OUT (ankle)
  • Fred VanVleet – OUT (knee)

Three Big Things

  1. Jumbo Line-up – The Rockets will feature a starting line-up where the shortest player out there will be 6’7″. (Don’t do the stupid hand shakey thing…and you just did it) If this was two seasons ago, it might be a little worrisome for the Thunder. But with Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, and Jaylin Williams all healthy to begin the season, this shouldn’t worry the Thunder too much. In fact, with the Rockets’ lack of a pure point guard/ball handler, outside of Reed Sheppard, and the lack of spacing, it may actually play into the Thunder’s defensive chaos machine.
  2. Brooks Barnhizer – It’ll be interesting to see if Barnhizer gets any burn in this game. He played in all six preseason games where he averaged 30 minutes, 9.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 2 steals on 44/42/72 shooting splits. The most interesting stat to me is that he averaged 4.2 free throw attempts in those six games. This team loves controlled aggressivity and Barnhizer has that in spades. Last year, as a rookie, Ajay Mitchell averaged 21 minutes per game in the preseason and was a part of the rotation from the start of the season until an injury forced him out of the rotation. With the Thunder being down a couple key rotation pieces due to injury, I could see Barnhizer getting some action early in the season and parlaying that into a role in the rotation.
  3. Oh the irony – Kevin Durant…here in OKC, on ring night. To see Durant looking up onto what used to be his kingdom, only see a banner being raised that he had no part in obtaining. Chef’s kiss. I may disagree with NBA commissioner Adam Silver that the NBA is a highlight only league. But this right here, this is WWE-level script writing. Bravo! Now cue Roundball Rock!

Thunder Media Day was boring…and that’s perfectly fine

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When you are in the media, you’re always hoping for that one nugget of information that can spark an article. Spark a narrative. Spark a controversy. Something you can write and talk about. But when you’re a fan, while you may wish for something exciting, what you should really be hoping for is consistency…especially if your team just won the championship the season before. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, as they head into training camp, the team brings back 14 of the 15 players who were on the playoff roster and one of their two-way players. That’s 15 of the possible 18 roster spots taken up by players who already know the system. The only change was exchanging a seldomly used rookie from last season (Dillon Jones) for a rookie this season who won’t see the floor (Thomas Sorber) due to an ACL tear. That’s it. Everything else remains basically the same.

What did change was the fact that everyone who was on the team last season can now walk around saying their nickname is “Champ”. But when asked what has changed since winning the NBA title in June, many answers boiled down to “not much”. Head coach Mark Daigneault, who kicked off media day, when asked what had changed since winning the title: “Not much, to be honest with you. Cycle of the season. Cycle of the offseason. We had a draft. Summer league. The only changes my life has taken on is with my kids and our family.” Thunder guard Lu Dort said that while the recognition has increased since winning the title, he went right back to the same offseason routine once he took some time to allow his body to recover. Thunder center Chet Holmgren said the first two weeks of the offseason were different (you know, having never won an NBA title before), but said it was the same after that.

Another theme during media day was how the different players enjoyed their experiences with the Larry O’Brien trophy. Dort got to sign the Golden Book of the City of Montreal, while bringing the trophy to his neighborhood. Jalen Williams was able to take the trophy to his alma mater, Santa Clara University, and share the experience with the same coaches who coached him when he was in college. Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams gushed about bringing the trophy to Fort Smith, Arkansas, with Williams adding that the players don’t necessarily worry about the safety of the trophy because “the Thunder made sure we took care of it.” Holmgren said when he took the trophy to Minnesota, he wanted to show the kids because when he was growing up, “there were no trophies in Minnesota”. Thunder guard Alex Caruso was finally able to take the Larry O’Brien trophy to College Station, Texas. As a member of the Lakers’ 2020 championship squad, he was unable to take the trophy to Texas A&M due to covid restrictions. When asked if the trophy was a part of his wedding, he gave an emphatic “No”, mentioning that he wanted to keep some thing separate from basketball and wanted to focus on his wedding.

Another thing that showed up during media day was the appreciation the players have for each other. Rookie second rounder Brooks Barnhizer was asked what was something he was surprised to see as he started his NBA journey: “I think everyone sees how close they are. Many people think when you get to the NBA those things go away, but here those things get amplified.” Second-year guard Ajay Mitchell gushed about his experience with fellow second-year guard (but really a rookie) Nikola Topic during summer league: “He’s a high IQ guard. Really excited for him. I know it’s been a tough year with the injury, but I’m excited for him. It was a great learning experience for both of us. It was fun.” Thunder lead guard and current league (and Finals) MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, when asked about Holmgren: “Everyone sees that we’ve only seen a fraction of what Chet can be. He’s made to play basketball. His height, his instinct, his feel. He has a mentality to sets him apart. Aside from everything that’s God-given, he also has the mentality. He can do whatever he wants.” SGA and J-Will both called Jalen Williams a “warrior” when asked to recall the struggles Williams went through with his wrist injury during the playoffs. J-Will finished his description off by asking “How could you not go to war with a guy like that?” Holmgren, when asked about the pairing with fellow big man Isaiah Hartenstein said, “We still have a long way to go as a pair and as a team. He goes out there and gives it his all. He does the gritty things. Goes out there and fractures his nose and keeps battling.”

A team that gets along. Players that appreciate each other. An organization that sees a new goal in front of them and knows that reminiscing on past goals completed won’t help them in their new journey. A team that rewards the players on their team and recognizes the importance of continuity. A organization that really rests on the ethos that they draft people, not players. I know…hella boring. I’ll leave you with quip from J-Will, when asked if he ever fancies going to another situation (team) where he may get more playing time or be higher on the pecking order: