Jazz Bench Shows Pride in 122 – 113 Thunder Loss

Utah’s closing lineup fought back to end a blowout loss on a positive note. (Joe Murphy via utahjazz.com)

Story of the Game

Despite the loss in San Antonio, the Utah Jazz entered this game at Oklahoma City feeling better about themselves than perhaps at any other point this season.

The Thunder demolished that feeling quickly.

Playing with greater energy and precision than the team that ousted them from the playoffs last year, the Thunder ran out  early and never looked back. Fueled by Utah’s continued turnover problems, Oklahoma City sprinted to a 57 – 46 halftime lead. The Jazz scrapped and fought on the road to keep the score that close as the contest frequently felt the lead might swell quickly out of control.

That’s exactly what happened in the third quarter. The home team scored a whopping 42 points behind the brilliance of Paul George, whose 17 points in the quarter capped off a true gem of a game: 31 points on only 10 shots to go with commanding defense crowned by four steals.

The Jazz, meanwhile, had coughed up the ball 19 times in three quarters and already missed 17 threes. They’d earned the 29-point deficit piled on their collective heads.

No Utah starter would see the court for more than two minutes in the fourth quarter. Utah’s bench, sparked by Dante Exum, Ekpe Udoh, and Thabo Sefolosha — all little used players recently — used a 17 to three run to make the final score respectable. But it was all cosmetic on a night where George was out of this world, the Thunder rose with him to team excellence, and the Jazz floundered about in their perplexing mediocrity of this season.

Stars of the Game

Superstar: None

When a team is down thirty with a quarter to play, it’s a safe bet that no one shown all that brightly in the game.

Secondary Star: Donovan Mitchell (19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 threes, 4 free throws, 5 fouls) and Rudy Gobert (13 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 fouls)

Mitchell tried his best to keep his team within striking distance, scoring all 19 in a half (plus one second) of play. He nailed three long-range shots, two catch and shoot and a half-court heave at the first quarter buzzer, but as the night wore on he was responsible more and more for creating for himself with little or no help. At that point, his off-the-dribble threes predictably were off the mark and dispirited teammates couldn’t get open for him, leaving him without an assist in the game. 

Gobert accumulated stats at a frenetic rate, notching 13 and 14 in only 21 minutes of play. The problem is Steven Adams made a far greater impact on the game and Gobert ended up minus-17 and clearly frustrated at his inability to rally his team.

Secret Stars: Dante Exum (9 points, 3 assists, 5 free throws), Ekpe Udoh (10 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks), and Thabo Sefolosha (6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals)

Exum, Udoh, and Sefolosha fueled Utah’s dignity-saving 38 to 23 fourth quarter. Each was a plus-16 or -17 on the night. Sefolosha has come around lately and is looking more like the positive difference maker he proved to be last season before his injury.

But Exum was maybe the most impressive Jazz player on the night. Relegated to third string guard duty behind Raul Neto partially due to his bouts of indecisiveness, he was anything but in nine minutes of play tonight. Albeit against deep bench competition, Exum looked like the player the Jazz have spent years hoping he’d become: hiccup quick and lightning fast, he repeatedly took the ball straight at the rim where he finished strong, got fouled, or made delicate, on-spot passes for Udoh to easily finish. He played with confidence and changed the game — too bad it was in total garbage time.

Stats of the Game

39 – Thunder free throws, a season high for the team.

1 of 7 – Kyle Korver from three. He hasn’t had that bad a night from deep since January 28th, 2016.

23 – Points off of turnovers scored by the Thunder through the game’s first three quarters.

101.4! – George’s unreal true shooting percentage.

Sundries

• Where other than Mitchell can the Jazz go when they need a basket? He simply can’t be their only offensive creator. Tonight, Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles combined for 16 points on 20 shots. Contrast that with the Thunder, who brought in Dennis Schroder and have learned that they can throw the ball in to the mammoth Adams to create for himself in the post. Those two backed up George by scoring 45 on 30 shots, and that on a night where Schroder made only one of five from three. That means they scored 42 on 25 attempts inside the arc. 
• Russell Westbrook had arguably the least consequential triple double in NBA history: 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists on 18 shots, including missing all five threes and half of his eight free throws.
• Westbrook’s value isn’t completely quantified by stats though, which is odd to say of the man who has mastered averaging a triple double season after season. I don’t know if there are two players in the NBA who combine the fitness and sheer constant effort the Thunder get from Westbrook and Adams. They go for EVERY ball within their reach and grabbed nine offensive rebounds tonight.
• Gobert got a tech with 52 seconds left in the third quarter after another foul he disagreed with. Right now the way refs are calling him is hurting his mentality.
• For the record, both Schroder and Jermi Grant are more valuable players than Carmelo Anthony in today’s NBA. This is a better Thunder team than last season, and they’ll be even better if they can ever keep Andre Roberson in the lineup.
• The Jazz need Exum to play a much more significant role, and they need it now. He gives them two things they desperately need: the ability to get to the rim and (at least in theory) finish there, and ball-stopping defensive chops. With George out of his gourd hot, I would have bet on Exum’s ability to check the heat more than any other Jazz defender.  Also, he can put pressure on the rim that Mitchell needs to spell the heavy weight he carries in that regard. If the Jazz can get the Exum from tonight’s fourth quarter against starting caliber NBA players and in more than 20 minutes a night, it just might transform their season. But that’s a big if.

Utah’s boost of confidence didn’t last long and they still find themselves third from the bottom of the Western Conference and looking for something, offensive or defensive or even supernatural if they can get it, to stabilize themselves. 

They face a three-game stretch that will be absolutely key in keeping their heads above water during this brutal start to the season:

On Wednesday they get a revenge match against Miami — who they should have already beaten this season — this time at home.

Then the travel to the 12 and 15 Orlando Magic with three days rest.

The trio caps off at Houston, one of only two western teams ranked lower than the Jazz currently.

That’s three games the Jazz can and probably should win. The question is, will they?