Frank Vogel, Suns clearly worried about playoff matchup with Thunder

As the Phoenix Suns try to stay healthy for the playoffs, their head coach is concerned about their possible first-round matchup. As noted by Duane Rankin of Arizona Central, Frank Vogel says that the Thunder would be a "tough matchup for us". Vogel continued by saying that Thunder are extremely "fast, athletic, they shoot the hell out of it and they defend".

This came after a blowout loss to the Thunder where the Suns lost by 25.

Although the Thunder might enjoy seeing the Suns in the first round of the playoffs, Phoenix has to win the 7-8 game in the Play-In Tournament. If they were able to, the Suns would likely be in for a tough matchup as the Thunder are extremely deep and run a fast offense. On the other hand, the Suns don't have a lot of great depth and are extremely reliant on their three stars.

The Thunder also have a great wing defender in Luguentz Dort. It's quite possible that Dort could completely shut down either Devin Booker or Bradley Beal. This could throw a wrench into the Suns' chances of winning the series since the franchise depends on all three of their stars to do well.

Despite these weaknesses, though, what can the Suns do to beat the Thunder in a playoff series and overcome Vogel's clear concern about this matchup?

How can the Suns figure out the Thunder in the NBA Playoffs?

The Suns can't magically fix their depth issues at this point in the season. The team is in bed with not having great depth after trading for Beal. While the depth issue is not something that they can solve, they can exploit an Oklahoma City weakness.

The Thunder struggle tremendously defending big men as the franchise doesn't even have an okay defensive big man outside of Chet Holmgren.

While Jusuf Nurkic isn't the best offensive veteran in the league, the Suns will probably need him to explode in a possible series. Additionally, Bol Bol could find a way to get extremely overhyped and paid this summer if he is able to take advantage of this weakness. Another factor that goes in the Suns' favor is the fact that the majority of the OKC roster hasn't really been in a playoff series, especially not as a favorite.

Despite these possible adjustments, the franchise should be worried about a possible Thunder playoff series.