12/23 - POSTGAME | Oklahoma City Thunder (103) - (89) Utah Jazz

[InTheSabonus]

Also, did we seriously leave all our starters in at the end, with the game iced, so Russ could abuse garbage time D and get an assist for a triple double? That just feels wrong.

last season must have been tough for you.

I was more inclined to be okay with the stat padding when we had not much else going on anyway, seeing Russ have a great individual season was always about as good as it was going to get with that roster and coaching. Although even then I really never liked the 'leave Russ in during garbage time' to get it. That game prior to the denver one, where he was desperately trying to get the assist, was an embarrassment.

Obviously this season has a different priority, Russ got his record last season, now we shouldn't be caring about triple doubles at all. We definitely shouldn't be testing fate by leaving our best players in when the game is over.

[Funcrusher]

Also, did we seriously leave all our starters in at the end, with the game iced, so Russ could abuse garbage time D and get an assist for a triple double? That just feels wrong.

last season must have been tough for you.

I was more inclined to be okay with the stat padding when we had not much else going on anyway, seeing Russ have a great individual season was always about as good as it was going to get with that roster and coaching. Although even then I really never liked the 'leave Russ in during garbage time' to get it. That game prior to the denver one, where he was desperately trying to get the assist, was an embarrassment.

Obviously this season has a different priority, Russ got his record last season, now we shouldn't be caring about triple doubles at all. We definitely shouldn't be testing fate by leaving our best players in when the game is over.

I don't think he was stat padding. The game wasn't totally iced until the last 50 seconds and at that point it doesn't really make sense to sub out your players. Their wasn't really any garbage time to stat pad, just like, two possessions.

[bondom34]

Seems a solid win, missed it but glad to see them string these together.

[bondom34]

I wonder what that postgame conversation was between Russ and Mitchell. Very out of the ordinary for russ.

I think that was a 'real recognize real' moment. Very cool moment with all of him, PG and Melo (and Ray) coming over to talk to him.

Just saw this, seems that way.

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Edit: Apparently he said "Don't stop." And I think PG/Melo said something too.

Also saw the little showdown w Steven lol.

[dakomish23]

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[dakomish23]

i thought the jazz had some really good looks from three to close this game. having huestis in there instead of roberson is really stupid. the drop-off defensively from roberson to huestis / abrines in those situations has been enormous. almost right after westbrook blew his assignment on the man that roberson would have been defending and adams laid into him. i liked that a lot. adams / roberson / george have carried this team to nearly the best defense in the league which is incredible and he should be barking at everyone else. i want more of that.

when george has good offensive games like this he's a superstar with the defense he's playing.

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[dakomish23]

Just saw Melo was 6-18. It didn’t seem like he was that inefficient.

As long as most of his shots are spot-ups, I have no problem with that.

Yep

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[dakomish23]

A W is a W

10 of 13. Tied for 5th with DEN. 1.5 out of 4th place tie with MIN.

[slick_watts]

the george-bench lineup is now the 2nd worst lineup in the nba among lineups with 50+ minutes. the only lineup that has a worse net rating is on the jazz- rubio-mitchell-ingles-favors-gobert. weird!

[NaturalThunder]

Just saw Melo was 6-18. It didn’t seem like he was that inefficient.

He hit some timely buckets (including a three or two) that seemed to stem what could've been a Jazz run to make the game competitive.

[NaturalThunder]

the george-bench lineup is now the 2nd worst lineup in the nba among lineups with 50+ minutes. the only lineup that has a worse net rating is on the jazz- rubio-mitchell-ingles-favors-gobert. weird!

That's really weird. On paper, that lineup looks like it'd work pretty good together.

I wonder if most of the issues stem from Favors and Gobert not being a great fit together?

[NaturalThunder]

i thought the jazz had some really good looks from three to close this game. having huestis in there instead of roberson is really stupid. the drop-off defensively from roberson to huestis / abrines in those situations has been enormous. almost right after westbrook blew his assignment on the man that roberson would have been defending and adams laid into him. i liked that a lot. adams / roberson / george have carried this team to nearly the best defense in the league which is incredible and he should be barking at everyone else. i want more of that.

when george has good offensive games like this he's a superstar with the defense he's playing.

Read on Twitter

I always knew George was a great defender; or at least his reputation was that of a great defender. And I gleaned that to some extent when I watched Pacers games. However, I never truly, REALLY saw it until this year. His instincts on defense are truly special. The way he reacts to passes and jumps the passing lanes and the way he reacts to his man trying to beat him off the dribble is jawdropping sometimes.

[dakomish23]

i thought the jazz had some really good looks from three to close this game. having huestis in there instead of roberson is really stupid. the drop-off defensively from roberson to huestis / abrines in those situations has been enormous. almost right after westbrook blew his assignment on the man that roberson would have been defending and adams laid into him. i liked that a lot. adams / roberson / george have carried this team to nearly the best defense in the league which is incredible and he should be barking at everyone else. i want more of that.

when george has good offensive games like this he's a superstar with the defense he's playing.

Read on Twitter

I always knew George was a great defender; or at least his reputation was that of a great defender. And I gleaned that to some extent when I watched Pacers games. However, I never truly, REALLY saw it until this year. His instincts on defense are truly special. The way he reacts to passes and jumps the passing lanes and the way he reacts to his man trying to beat him off the dribble is jawdropping sometimes.

DPOY in my opinion. Roberson is ragman and Adams is solid, but he’s the lynchpin of the best defense in the league.

[Osirus89]

Great first back to back win of the season!

I don't know what the magic formula is for PG to have these type of games. He had two really good ones earlier in the season and then... this game. The great thing has been that his defense has been great consistently all season even if his offense has been a bit scattered. Indiana fans have been accurate about what to expect from him so far. He is playing like he was when he played with Danny Granger and was an outstanding 3-D player. Then he got miscast as a first option type of guy with ok results. Now he is back to how he was projected when he came into the league. Kind of reminds me of Iggy, but with a better jumpshot.


Oh and Donovan Mitchell is the real deal. I can't remember the last time I have seen a true rookie be given the shine for a team trying to make the playoffs and performing this well. Ben Simmons is a red shirt and so was Embiid last season. Mitchell has been as potent as Oladipo has been for Indiana, but he hasn't been in the league for years like Vic has.

[Pillendreher]

Back-to-back wins that reminded me of Thunder teams in the Durant era. Not everything went our way this gaame and we struggled to play with pace, but we made big shots, played great defense most of the time and got a double digit win on the road.

[Bergmaniac]

George's defense has been unreal all season. The amount of steals he gets without gambling much is mindboggling.

Solid win at the end, seemed like you got a bit tired towards the end on D and the Jazz missed a bunch of open 3s but apart from that you were in control thorughout.

Westbrook's really cut down the turnovers lately, which is a big factor for your improvement IMO. Hopefully he can keep that up.

[Old Man Game]

I wonder what that postgame conversation was between Russ and Mitchell. Very out of the ordinary for russ.

I think that was a 'real recognize real' moment. Very cool moment with all of him, PG and Melo (and Ray) coming over to talk to him.

Just saw this, seems that way.

Read on Twitter

Edit: Apparently he said "Don't stop." And I think PG/Melo said something too.

Also saw the little showdown w Steven lol.

He's something else. Reminds me a bit of Harden. Very shifty and very crafty with the handle. Great ability to use screens and weave traffic. Denver fans gotta be pretty depressed about that trade.

[Old Man Game]

George's defense has been unreal all season. The amount of steals he gets without gambling much is mindboggling.

Solid win at the end, seemed like you got a bit tired towards the end on D and the Jazz missed a bunch of open 3s but apart from that you were in control thorughout.

Westbrook's really cut down the turnovers lately, which is a big factor for your improvement IMO. Hopefully he can keep that up.

His instincts for that and hands are just incredible. It sounds stupid to say this for a multi-time all star but frankly, I didn't realize he was this good. His offense hasn't been the best, but defensively just WOW.

[InTheSabonus]

I don't know what the magic formula is for PG to have these type of games.

To me it seems like he was determined to beat them after Ingles pissed him off seconds into the game. Just had that look on his face that you see on Russ, but usually not on PG.

Suggests to me it's very possibly a motivation/mindset issue. I'm not saying he's phoning it in, he's probably going to win DPOY, but maybe he struggles to get that same drive offensively. Most of the time he looks too passive, this time he got mad early, and was way more engaged offensively.

[Pillendreher]

Westbrook's really cut down the turnovers lately, which is a big factor for your improvement IMO. Hopefully he can keep that up.

Over the last 5 games he has 13 turnovers and 12 steals. So he has about made up for every turnover and has shot 58 % from the floor. Way better offense per poss. by him.