The Phoenix Suns have been around for a long time.
Over 50 years, to be semi-exact, and of course they’ve had some disappointing losses in that time.
That said, they have never been beaten as badly as they will be in 2025 NBA Cup Quarterfinals showdown against reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday evening, December 10.
Trailing OKC by more than 50 points, the Suns ultimately fell 138-89 – a 49-point loss. That now stands alone as the worst loss in franchise history as measured by points differential – regular season and playoffs combined.
Embarrassing, yes, but the Suns played strong against OKC in their previous meeting on November 28. They lost that game by just four points (123-119), as all five starters scored in double figures. They were led by point guard Collin Gillespie’s 24 points, supported by six 3-pointers.
The Suns also had Devin Booker healthy for that matchup. It was a different story on Wednesday as they were without book and trade acquisition Jalen Green for the latest NBA Cup game.
The Thunder game plan to stop Gillespie worked to perfection, with guard Cason Wallace putting the clamps on the Phoenix point guard early to set the tone. At the end of the night, Gillespie finished with twice as many turnovers (four) as points (two).
Dillon Brooks, who has taken the reins as Phoenix’s top scoring option with Booker and Green out, also struggled. He completed just 4 of 16 shooting and finished with a plus/minus of -47. Yes.
As they like to say in coach-speak: flush it and move on to the next one.
The Suns absolutely should, because there’s no real shame in a short-handed team losing to an OKC roster that’s putting itself in the conversation to be considered one of the best NBA teams of all time with a 24-1 start.
However, we’re going to take this opportunity to look back at the worst losses in Suns franchise history. None were worse than Wednesday against the Thunder, but perhaps it will cheer fans up that this isn’t 2017-2018.
What are the worst losses in Suns franchise history?
Fans – if they haven’t already washed it out of their minds – may remember the dismal start to the 2017-18 season under then-head coach Earl Watson.
Watson’s young and inexperienced squad started the year 0-3, including a 48-point opening night loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. All told, they lost those three games by a total of 92 points. That was enough for the front office to relieve Watson of his coaching duties and hand the keys to Jay Triano for the remainder of what may be the worst year in the organization’s history.
That opening night loss under Watson is tied to a February loss to the San Antonio Spurs that same season. Prior to the drubbing at the hands of OKC, these two 48-point losses were the worst ever for the Suns.
On opening night of 2017 against Portland, Damian Lillard went for a cool 27 points on 50% shooting, while Pat Connaughton added 24 points of his own off the bench. The Suns’ leading scorer, on the other hand, was Eric Bledsoe with 15. He shot 5-for-18 from the floor (27.8%) and finished with a plus/minus of -41. Teammate TJ Warren was the only player worse with a -42 plus/minus.
In that February loss to San Antonio, the Suns trailed 28-9 after the first quarter and trailed 69-31 at halftime. Bah.
Like Brooks last night, rookie Josh Jackson (selected with the No. 4 overall pick of the 2017 draft) finished with a -47 plus/minus.
The Suns nearly matched the worst losses in franchise history for a third time, just five days later, against the Golden State Warriors.
On February 12, 2018, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the Dubs defeated Phoenix by 46 points. Jackson, who shot 4-of-18 against Golden State, had just a -43 plus/minus.
I’m sure every Suns fan would love to forget about the 2017-2018 team because it’s in the record books for all the wrong reasons.
What is the worst playoff loss in Suns history?
In what is now the fifth worst loss in franchise history, we have to go back to the 1997 playoffs against Seattle.
Despite finishing the season with a sub-.500 record (40–42), the Suns squeaked into the playoffs to face the SuperSonics in the first round. After winning Game 1 of the series thanks to a 42-point outburst from Rex Chapman, the Suns lost Game 2 by 44 points, 122–78.
Jason Kidd and Kevin Johnson combined to shoot just 1-for-19 from the floor in that game, including 0-for-10 from 3-point range.
Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp led the way for Seattle with 23 points each as virtually everyone contributed to the Sonics’ bats in Game 2.
The Suns ultimately lost the series, but took it to a decisive Game 5.
For that, you have to go back to 1988 to find the other loss that matches the 44-point playoff blowout – it was also against Seattle.
On April 2 of that year, the Suns gave up 151 points to the SuperSonics, giving up at least 36 points in each quarter.
Four Seattle players scored 20 points or more in the game, including two future Suns players Tom Chambers and Xavier McDaniel.
There will certainly be more blowout losses for the Suns in the future, but the Thunder upending more than five decades of precedent to take that blowout crown shows just how good OKC really is this year. Credit where it’s due.
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