Real Madrid winger set to leave on loan this summer as club make space for Brazilian – report
Real Madrid's Franco Mastantuono is leaving on loan to make room for a new Brazilian player.
The Phoenix Suns aim to neutralize Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's scoring ability in the playoffs, having allowed him an average of 30 points per game during the regular season. Their defensive strategy will be crucial in matching up against the MVP and reigning champions.
From knowing Shai’s spots, to being savvy with help, and wanting to force the Thunder into late clock shots on their terms or to take a ton of three’s — the Suns have clear-cut desires from their defensive process. Gilgeous-Alexander did average 30 points on 50.9% from the field vs the Suns, and 16.3 drives with 19 points created on average via those. Oklahoma City also showed a desire to test the Suns perimeter size with taking hits and bumps from their MVP, as he works methodically to create space. Devin Booker and the Suns have to keep pace with scoring on their own merits, however, within the nuances they’ve shown, can they their defensive footing and sustain against the reigning MVP and reigning champions? What would it need to look like if they were able to do so? It’ll take moments like those compiled by Goodwin and Ighodaro as a tandem to get to the Playoffs, to reach their ceiling in impact as a team on that end of the floor.
The defensive tandem of Jordan Goodwin & Oso Ighodaro continues to be disruptive.
16th highest switch rate of 126 tandems defending 150+ ball screens, allowing just 0.933 points per chance.
Was at the helm of \a lot\ of the activity-inducing defense from PHX vs GS.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30 points on 50.9% shooting against the Suns, along with 16.3 drives that created 19 points on average.
The Suns plan to focus on knowing Shai's spots, utilizing help defense, and forcing the Thunder into late clock shots or three-point attempts.
The defensive tandem of Jordan Goodwin and Oso Ighodaro will be crucial, as they have shown a strong ability to disrupt opposing offenses.
Real Madrid's Franco Mastantuono is leaving on loan to make room for a new Brazilian player.
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Don't miss Thunder vs. Suns in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs today! Check your local listings for the channel and time.
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— Stephen PridGeon-Garner 🏁 (@StephenPG3) April 18, 2026 Help defense will also be an entity that is called to task, and will often either have consequences if late, or reward in execution if sharp. Their margin for error this series is as slim as it gets, and they’ll need to sustain threading that needle well as a unit, with activity, to get to where they desire to be. Collin Gillespie is also someone to keep an eye on, as the Thunder have shown to find ways to bring him to action. Collin is not a bad defender, but his size looms as something teams feel they can poke at, at times, in space. Got to speak with Collin Gillespie for the first time in a few weeks, yesterday.
Touched base on both of these defensive topics, which've been on display v MIN, OKC, & LA recently.
Let's thread & preview a bit of today's Lakers matchup — 1 of PHXs best defensive games so far 🧵 pic.twitter.com/FmYchxdcGc
— Stephen PridGeon-Garner 🏁 (@StephenPG3) December 14, 2025 Sharpness with pick-up points, at points of attack, and with help, will be as key as anything after staying attached to the ball. Stephen PridGeon-Garner is back with a quick look at that process shown vs Shai and the Thunder in their regular season series.