Oklahoma City Thunder Vs. Utah Jazz: Breaking Down the Game

Tonight's game seemed to be over before it started, as the Jazz were without Devin Harris and Derrick Favors, among others. They were able to put up a valiant fight in the first half, but as the game progressed the better team asserted their dominance. That isn't to say the Thunder didn't have a few scares along the way, but I was fairly certain they would win this one throughout the game.

The Jazz began the game by doing something that rarely happened during the Jerry Sloan era: taking and making lots of three point shots. Going into halftime, it almost seemed like the Jazz were going to make a game out of this one, but, as we often see, teams who don't usually make a lot of threes can sometimes get on a roll only to crash back down to Earth during the course of a game.

When the shots were falling, it was Earl Watson who surprised me the most. Filling in for Harris, he was able to knock down two early threes and I couldn't believe myself. Where did his shot go two years ago when he was playing with the Thunder and shooting .235 from three. Unfortunately for the Jazz, his hot streak fizzled out in the second half and he quickly became the player I was used to from his days in OKC blue.

The Jazz did have one guy who played well tonight, as Al Jefferson had 32 points and 12 rebounds. I've long said that Jefferson is one of the best young bigs in the game, he just needed to get out of a terrible situation in Minnesota. It pains me to know that we'll never truly know what he and Deron Williams could have accomplished together in Jerry Sloan's pick and roll offense (I picked them to challenge the Lakers in the West during the preseason), but it's nice to see such a quality player show his skills. It's not all bad news for the big man because sometime soon he'll be partnering with Devin Harris, a good, young point guard in his own right.

Speaking of good, young point guards, Russell Westbrook went on a scoring tear tonight, erasing everyone's memory of his 7-19 shooting performance against the Raptors on Sunday. The man could not be stopped and got into the lane whenever he wanted. Not only that, but as the season's progressed, Westbrook has begun to develop something of an outside shot. If he can continue to knock down that pull-up mid-range jumper, he will soon be challenging Derrick Rose for best point guard in the League.

In other good news, Kevin Durant is becoming quite the clutch performer. Tonight, he was able to score six of his seven field goals in the second half and he got to the line 15 times. It's not the most exciting way to score points, but anytime someone gets to shoot 15 free throws, you know he's having a good night. The only blemish on his game tonight was that he only got two rebounds. Now, in the past I've said he needs to get rebounds to offset their lack of height, but with a four-deep front court rotation, it's hard to nitpick him for that too much.

Speaking of that front court, I felt like every single one of them turned in a solid performance. Serge Ibaka is the obvious stand out with 14 points, 13 boards, and 4 blocks, but I thought that Kendrick Perkins also did a lot of little things right to make up for his lack of stat sheet filling numbers. Nazr Mohammed actually took double the shots Perkins did, which can probably be contributed to him being in the offense longer, and came out with 10 big points. Nick Collison rounded it out by producing another great game, as best seen by his +18 +/-, which led all players.

The rest of the Thunder's bench was barely noticeable. James Harden did post 11 points, but other than that, they didn't do too much. They able to outscore the Jazz bench 25-20 though so it's obvious they are still producing pretty well.

Even as a Thunder fan, I hate to see the Jazz lose. Jerry Sloan was always my favorite coach and Deron Williams one of my top five favorite players to watch. Even though they're gone, I still will always root for the Jazz a little bit. That said, it was obvious that without some of their key players, they were no match for the Thunder.

By getting hot with the three ball, they were able to keep it close for awhile but in the end, the Thunder's superior skill trumped their small hot streak. The Thunder would love to continue winning, but at this point the most important thing for them is to get Perkins as comfortable as possible. If that happens, they have a chance to upset even the toughest teams in the NBA.