Oklahoma City Dismantled by Utah Jazz in 89-109 Beat Down
For the second consecutive night the Oklahoma City Thunder were soundly defeated. This time the humble pie was served up by the Utah Jazz in a 109-89 beat down.
Coming off a double-digit defeat to the Blazers last night, the Thunder looked awful from the opening tip. In fact, the Thunder never led or even tied Utah in this game.
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Body language speaks volumes, and everyone on OKC looked exhausted, specifically Russell Westbrook, who finished the night shooting just 7-25.
The Jazz, conversely, were coming off four days of rest and thoroughly out-classed the Thunder in nearly every facet of the game.
Dec 14, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) defends against Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) during the first half at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Jazz Dominant:
Utah capitalized off turnovers (21 points on 14 OKC TO’s) forced by stifling defense, anchored by fittingly enough, the Stifle Tower: Rudy Gobert, who finished the evening with a ridiculous 12 points (5-5 from the field), 12 boards, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. The numbers don’t tell the whole story however. Gobert suffocated everyone and everything at the rim, specifically Russell Westbrook.
OKC was held to only 36.6% shooting (30-82) while allowing the Jazz to shoot an unreal 58.3% (42-72) from the field and 56.5% (13-23) from deep. Rodney Hood paced Utah with 25 points on 9-14 shooting. Enes Kanter was welcomed back by the Utah faithful with a chorus of boo’s, but Kanter would finish with 19 points.
Quin Snyder’s team moved the ball beautifully, finishing the evening with 22 assists on 42 made baskets. The Jazz milked the clock on a significant amount of possessions, passing the ball around the court and despite getting to around 5 seconds remaining on the clock, none of their shots seemed forced.
Utah’s slow pace in the half court kept the Thunder from being able to effectively run the floor, as they finished with only 13 transition points.
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Victor Oladipo missed his second straight game with a right wrist injury, and it was starkly evident how important he is to OKC as he provides at least some floor spacing, shooting, perimeter defense, and serves as a ball handler when Westbrook rests. Driving home the point of the Thunder’s reliance on Westbrook – Russ either scored or assisted on 19 of the Thunders 26 points in the first half.
You know things are bad for the Thunder when Nick Collison has to dust off his sneakers and play 16 minutes and start the second half to provide leadership and experience. Then again, things are bad when the best +/- on the team is -2, which belonged to Alex Abrines who got 3 minutes of playing time in the fourth quarter.
One faint positive for the Thunder was how often they got to the line this evening, hitting 23-27 from the charity stripe, good for 85%. Utah has won 9 of their last 11, improving to 16-10 on the season. Meanwhile, the Thunder have dropped 3 of their last 4 with a 15-11 record now which also moves them behind the Jazz in the standings.
Especially notable was the fact the Thunder’s issues were brought to the forefront this evening: nobody picked up the slack (or appears to be able to) with Russ having an off night. The bench is uninspiring and offensively anemic, the defense is deceptively porous, and this team, despite a hot start buoyed by several wins against the bottom tier of NBA teams, is still very clearly searching for their identity in the post Durant era.
The Thunder have tomorrow off before hosting the Suns at the Peake on Saturday, when they will endeavor to stop the bleeding.