The Phoenix Suns secured a ticket to the playoffs after eliminating the Golden State Warriors 111-96 in the Play-Ins on Friday.
Dillon Brooks was barely off the court before he sent a direct message to the defending champions, the OKC Thunder.
Dillon Brooks Goes Straight at OKC Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Phoenix’s win over the Bay Area locked up the match-up everyone expected: No. 8 seed Suns against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the first seed in the West, who are at 64-18.
Right after defeating the Golden State, Brooks spoke to Amazon Prime’s Taylor Rooks. He did not waste even a minute as he sent a pointed message. “There’s a bunch of foul baiters on that team,” Brooks said. “Hopefully the refs treat it like the real playoffs and there’s not too many fouls.”
Dillon Brooks in his interview with @NBAonPrime talking about the Thunder:
“There’s a lot of foul-baiters on that team… Hopefully it’s the real playoffs and not too many calls.”
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) April 18, 2026
Brooks has been the designated villain of the Suns all season long. He’s definitely not looking for a change. The comments are aimed squarely at Gilgeous-Alexander, who is second in the league this season with an average of nine FTA.
The foul-baiting narrative isn’t new for OKC. Last postseason, Timberwolves HC Chris Finch publicly said, “They foul, they foul all the time. And then you can’t really touch Shai. It’s a very frustrating thing, and it takes a lot of mental toughness to play through it.”
SGA’s heard it before. So, naturally, he shrugs off these concerns. Earlier this season, he even tried to address the reputation he had built. He directly said, “I don’t care, not one bit. I can’t control how the refs blow the whistle ever.”
Brooks isn’t rattling Gilgeous-Alexander with such statements. He’s rattling the series.
Suns’ squad might have gotten Phoenix to this stage, but Dillon Brooks is the one who sets the temperature for the team.
Can Phoenix really back it up against Oklahoma City?
The numbers don’t lie. History is working against them really hard. The No. 8 seed has beaten the No. 1 seed just 6 times in NBA history, most recently when Miami beat Milwaukee in 2023.
OKC won the regular-season series 3-2 against the Suns. The win came on the last day of the season, with both teams resting their rotational players.
Even as SGA has averaged 31.1 points per game this season, he will be head-to-head against Brooks, Ryan Dunn, and Jordan Goodwin. They are fiesty, so it’s going to be a steep risk.
Sunday brings the start of the Thunder’s NBA title defense, as they welcome Phoenix to Bricktown. Game 1 tips off at 3:30 ET.
