Thunder Overcome Late Swoon To Silence Jazz
By Randy Renner, Senior Writer
The Thunder got off to a great start, led by as many as 23 in the 3rd quarter and then had to hold on for dear life late but Russell Westbrook refused to let his team lose.
He dominated the game and finished with his 32nd triple double with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists.
Westbrook scored 16 of those points in the 4th quarter, including 10-for-10 at the free throw line as OKC beat a short-handed Utah squad 112-104.
“Any time you’re playing down hill you’ve got a chance to get to the rim and draw fouls,” said head coach Billy Donovan of the free throw spurt late in the game.
The Jazz played small most of the game after center Rudy Gobert was a late scratch and the Thunder feasted inside scoring 58 points in the paint.
Westbrook fed Steven Adams early and found Victor Oladipo often too. Dipo finished with 22 points and was 3-for-6 on threes. Adams scored 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds. Enes Kanter added 16 coming off the bench and Taj Gibson, starting his second straight game, dropped in 15 on 7-for-9 shooting.
Gibson left the game in the second half with what appeared to be a hip injury. He spent some time back in the Thunder lockerroom, returned to the bench but did not play again. His status going forward is uncertain.
Spreading the scoring out is a prime example of how well Westbrook orchestrated things for the Thunder. OKC is now 26-6 in games in which he registers a triple double.
"Russell is just putting up historic numbers," Donovan said. "Wilt (Chamberlain) and Oscar (Robertson) are two of the greatest to ever play the game."
Westbrook passed Chamberlain for second place on the all-time list for most triple doubles in a season. Robertson has the record (41) in the 1961-62 season when he became the only player to average a triple double for an entire season.
Westbrook continues on pace to become the second.
The Thunder outrebounded Utah 43-36 and dominated in second chance points 18-5. Donovan had hoped to put pressure on the Jazz in transition but OKC had only six opportunities to get out and run, scoring nine points.
One encouraging thing about the game was balanced scoring among the starters. Four of them got into double figures and Andre Roberson almost did too with eight points.
Donovan wasn’t happy with his team giving away much of their 23 point lead during a swoon on both ends of the floor during the last part of the 3rd quarter and lasting through much of the 4th.
OKC managed just 21 points in the 4th quarter on 5-for-19 shooting (26.3 percent) while giving up 28 to the Jazz on 10-for-21 (47.6 percent).
To make matters worse all the damage was done by Jazz backups. Utah coach Quin Snyder pulled his starters late in the 3rd quarter and even as the Jazz rallied kept them on the bench to see if his down the line guys could bring his team all the way back.
It was a strategy that backfired on Snyder but the Thunder will take it. The win gives them a 3-1 advantage over Utah in the season series which will be very important if OKC and Utah should end up tied for the Northwest Division title at the end of the regular season.
The Thunder have now won two straight after dropping four in a row and get ready to head out on a 2-game roadtrip back east to Brooklyn on Tuesday and Toronto on Thursday before returning home next Saturday for another 2pm start, this time against the Sacramento Kings.