Almost eight months later, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz face off again, but this time the matchups were vastly different. We’ll share a quick condensed version of Alberto’s five thoughts from last night’s 122-113 Thunder win in the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Thunder defeat the Jazz with ease (except for the fourth quarter) and although Russ had a bad game, PG and Co. STEPPED UP…THAT’S one of the reasons why they are built for a Title. #ThunderUp #Qdoba pic.twitter.com/y0hlxFnEXC
— Addam♦️Francisco (@SuaveFrancisco_) December 11, 2018
Five Thoughts:
- Last night, PG played an outstanding game on both ends of the floor, he looked super smooth on offense, shooting 8-of-10 from the floor for 31 points. He was 5-of-6 from 3 and displayed his ability to be versatile by providing tough on-ball defense en route to 4 steals.
- Steven Adams had another solid game: 22 points (7-13 FG, 8-10 FT) and 7 rebounds. 6 out of 7 rebounds were on offense, against Gobert. That’s crazy. Very quiet, but he is having an All-Star type of season. His season averages: 15.5 points and 10 rebounds per game and his defense speaks for itself.
- Westbrook struggled all night with his shooting. He finished with 4-18 from the floor and 0-5 from behind the arc. Also, his free throw shooting is incredibly down, 4-8 last night and just over 60 percent for the season. He played good defense but in parts of the game, his troubles on offense affected his D negatively.
- Schroeder, Noel, and Diallo are the only one that can produce constantly from the bench. On the long run, this might affect the team, because if one or two of these players don’t play well, then OKC needs someone else to step up. Abrines and Patterson are disappointing so far.
- This team is fun to watch when they play the kind of defense they did yesterday for the first three quarters. Everything works better, and even if they have some hard moments on offense, they don’t allow the other team to score on them. Props also to coach Donovan for this.
Next three games are going to be interesting: Pelicans and Nuggets on the road, and the Clippers at home. Direct matchups against Western Conference teams that’ll expectedly be playoff-bound, and even though it’s only December, it already feels like must-win games.