“We play for each other every night, especially with what happened to those two, we have a little bit of more pride behind it. They mean so much to us, not just from a player standpoint, but from a human standpoint. So, we just wanna play for them. But also be with them off the court. I think that’s what makes our team so special” Isaiah Hartenstein on the Thunder’s approach after losing Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace to long-term injuries

Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein rockin a Jalen Williams jersey at the podium

“Whatever we need from him he provides at a high level. And I expect the same thing from Ajay going forward. If guys are out and we need more scoring, he’ll do so. More defending, he’ll do so” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell

“Every night before the game we go over how to win the game. This team has gotten real good at doing that no matter who’s in the lineup or who’s out the lineup. We saw an example of that tonight. We’re just ready to go. Guys are ready to go. Guys are ready to step up. Not surprised by it at all” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Thunder teammates stepping up without Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, and Chet Holmgren

Mark Daigneault on Ajay Mitchell’s career-high 30-point performance: “He’s established that he’s a great player, and that he’s got a really bright future... it’s how hard he plays. How smart he plays. How skilled he is. On both ends, he can cover anybody for us. He gives great effort and help. Then, on the offensive end of the floor, he can obviously create, score, but also, can play off of great players. That’s a unique skill”

Mark Daigneault on Thunder players’ mindset over the past 24 hours: “It’s tough from a compassionate standpoint. Those are guys that work so hard. They’re such great players. So, that was a tough pill. The guys did a great job of appropriately honoring that and getting themselves ready to play. They heard from Dub. They saw Cason. So, it allowed them to feel good about going out there and competing for the team”

FINAL: Thunder 125, Suns 114 OKC is 4-0 Mitchell: 30 PTS (career-high), 5 AST SGA: 26 PTS McCain: 18 PTS, 4 AST OKC: 51% FG, 12-32 3PT Green: 20 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST Brooks: 19 PTS, 5 AST, 5 REB Bridges: 17 PTS, 8 REB PHX: 43% FG, 18-50 3PT

Brooks picks up a technical foul for unnecessary roughness. SGA will head to the line to shoot the tech. Mara will also head to the line for the personal foul

Dillon Brooks’ personal foul is under review for a potential flagrant foul. Brooks fouled Aday Mara and then shoved Kenrich Williams, who came to Mara’s defense

Ajay Mitchell still going… 25 PTS on 9-13 shooting. Thunder leading the Suns 103-90 in the 4Q

Godspeed.

Alex Caruso (right ankle sprain) is ruled out for tonight’s game, per Thunder

HALF: Thunder 67, Suns 53 Mitchell: 18 PTS SGA: 12 PTS McCain: 10 PTS OKC: 53.2% FG, 8-19 3PT Brooks: 11 PTS, 3 AST Green: 10 PTS, 4 AST Bridges: 6 PTS PHX: 45.2% FG, 9-23 3PT

Aday Mara with the put-back for the Thunder. He has 8 PTS off the bench in the first half

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander completes the 3-point play to extend the Thunder’s lead to six (50-44) in the 2Q. He has 7 PTS

Ajay Mitchell continues to attack the rim and rack up points as he converts his 3-point play. Mitchell has 16 PTS in the first half, including a perfect 6-6 from the line

Second 3-pointer for Alex Caruso he’s been feeling it since he first checked into the game two minutes ago. Bennett Stirtz drained a triple right after this one. Thunder leading the Sun 24-22 late in the 1Q