WCQF: P1 | (4) OKC Thunder vs Utah Jazz (5) | Utah wins 4-2

[couchie]

Rubio hasn't always played good defense. It was his shooting that was questionable. The Jazz was the one team I didn't want to play in the first round of the playoffs. They are resilient and they just never give up. Lots of young talent in the league. I'm rooting on Utah. I think they can pull this thing out. Coaching.

[Nate505]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23239249/donovan-mitchell-utah-jazz-sets-record-most-points-guard-first-two-playoff-games

Wow, I didn't realize that Spida broke a record that's been around since 85. Good time to shine.

All he does is match/beat all time greats in these things, and yet you hear "BUT THE EFFICIENCY!" like if Skal Labissiere was allowed to shoot the ball that much he would have these records.

[ISayshowmee]

Rubio hasn't always played good defense. It was his shooting that was questionable. The Jazz was the one team I didn't want to play in the first round of the playoffs. They are resilient and they just never give up. Lots of young talent in the league. I'm rooting on Utah. I think they can pull this thing out. Coaching.

OKC will fall apart. You can tell from their body language....NO TEAM CHEMISTRY !!

[Litany]

Just an ugly 4th quarter by the Thunder. Honestly it wasn't even Utah's defense. OKC thunder had no ball movement, just hero ball, jacking up shots

Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't the Jazz preventing them from getting the things they wanted..OKC just wanted to execute poorly...I think you're onto something here

[Merc_Porto]

Just an ugly 4th quarter by the Thunder. Honestly it wasn't even Utah's defense. OKC thunder had no ball movement, just hero ball, jacking up shots

Is a basketball game, The Jazz also played a really bad 3th quarter. You can't say that wasn't Utah defense. OKC won the first game becuse the hero ball, jacking up shots work it.

[whatisacenter]

I think Favors just grabbed another offensive rebound.

[erudite23]

Let’s see the if I remember the logic from game 1.....Jazz win 102-95. Thunder went on 19-0 run. So outside of that run Jazz won 102-76 over the other 42 mins. So this was basically a blowout.

Did I do it right?

Game 1:



Game 2:



Let's try and see if you can spot the difference. if you give yourself a chance, you might just do it! I believe in you!

It's equally stupid is what it is. The math turns out pretty close to the same, it's just the sequencing that's different. If you understand anything about statistics you would know that a single game (let alone a 40 min period within a game) is not a large enough sample to make conclusions like the one you were making.

You can just admit you were talking nonsense, son. After two games in OKC, the score is 211-210. Maybe you can spot that difference.

[PizzaSteve]

I think warriors fans watching this series with almost more interest than SA. Spurs can compete, but just dont seem capable of a series win.

[WarriorGM]

Does anyone really want to watch a series with a funereal feel and with a media milking personal grief for all it's worth?

[nbafan38]

Series is about where I expected it to be. Was disappointing for OKC though that up 10 after that crazy run they couldn't close the door. Paul George probably won't have another game as dominant as game 1 but the Thunder big 3 also probably won't go 0-14 in the 4th quarter again. All in all 1-1 is what I expected and I would expect the two teams to split in Utah and make this a best of 3 series. Thunder can beat anyone anywhere as demonstrated by wins this year at Golden State and Houston but can also lose to almost anyone anywhere so I don't see home court as a huge deal in this series either way.

[erudite23]

Here is the reason why I felt good about the Jazz winning this series--and for the record I stated Jazz in 5:

1) OKC do not play well together and don't have a strong sense of team. You can tell they don't really like each other. Not that they hate each other, mind, just they don't LIKE each other. When things go south, they have 3 guys who all think they are going to single handedly dig the team out by themselves. They have no sense of how to work together to beat other teams.

2) Short of PG getting hot from downtown, they have no consistent source of efficient offense. Westbrook's game is predicated on breaking down the defense, getting a good number of shots at the rim and creating good looks for others as a result. He isn't a good enough finisher to challenge Gobert at the rim, and that turns him into a--very poor--jump shooter who doesn't seem to realize how poor he is. The net effect should be a series in which the Jazz slowly strangle the life out of OKC's offense as they get better at erasing the secondary and tertiary options in the offense--provided that someone(s) doesn't go crazy from deep like PG did in game 1.

3) The Jazz are deeper and have a wider variety of ways to attack offensively. They don't have a big-gun option like Harden, LeBron, Curry etc, but they have a lot of good options that can be used to scrape out enough offense to win and that don't allow the opposing team to snuff out entirely.

Basically, I believe that Utah can strangle OKC's offense as the series goes along. We saw that last night and even in Game 1 short of PG. Keep in mind that Paul George still shot the ball extremely well from deep last night. He was officially 4-12, but 2 of those were heaves at the end of quarters. On real shots he was 4-10, which is a very good number considering how much attention he was getting. What happens when he can't hit anything and goes 1-9, which absolutely will happen at some point in this series?

If the Jazz can keep the Thunder down around 100 in terms of offensive efficiency, the Jazz will 100% win this series. I don't believe that OKC will be able to do the same to the Jazz. And I believe the Jazz will definitely be able to do that, given OKCs total lack of offensive scheme and connectedness as a team. The Jazz are as good a defensive outfit right now as the league has seen in the last decade and last night was just a taste of what's to come.

[Thundershock88]

Adams foul trouble was a large factor, and OKC still had a chance at the end. OKC chucked the game away. There was no real offensive direction, and the switching was asinine. They'll adjust, but this is about where I figured the series would be. Still say OKC in 6.

[jonjames]

George-6 of 21 28% fg%
Melo-6 of 18 33% fg%
Westbrook-7 of 19 36% fg%

LOL no surprises here Knew that vaunted Utah D would be putting in work against the star power of OKC.

[WEB IV]

I expect fairly comfortable wins for the Jazz back in Salt Lake City...Ingles and Crowder will play much better at home, which will open things up for everyone else.

[Litany]

OKC is a really tough place to play in general. That stadium gets SO freaking loud and they are quick to rally around their team when they have it going and they are also pretty patient waiting for them to get going. They don't seem to like to ever sit down, haha, and it there's just an atmosphere where if it turns OKCs way (whether it's offensively or defensively) they rally fast. I know there are many great fanbases that show up in the arena, OKC is one of the best I think.

[John Murdoch]

I expect fairly comfortable wins for the Jazz back in Salt Lake City...Ingles and Crowder will play much better at home, which will open things up for everyone else.

Fairly comfortable? If a 3 point margin is comfortable then sure

[ken6199]

OKC is a really tough place to play in general. That stadium gets SO freaking loud and they are quick to rally around their team when they have it going and they are also pretty patient waiting for them to get going. They don't seem to like to ever sit down, haha, and it there's just an atmosphere where if it turns OKCs way (whether it's offensively or defensively) they rally fast. I know there are many great fanbases that show up in the arena, OKC is one of the best I think.

OKC, Utah, along with GS are the three most hostile homecourt in the league. Utah plus the altitude.

And no, GS fans don't quote me this is not a "I think GS has an easy path by escaping Utah/OKC" talk.

[Pillendreher]

If you understand anything about statistics you would know that a single game (let alone a 40 min period within a game) is not a large enough sample to make conclusions like the one you were making.

What? So now you're trying to put words in my mouth because trying to appear smart by actually being obtuse backfired?

You can just admit you were talking nonsense, son..

[erudite23]

If you understand anything about statistics you would know that a single game (let alone a 40 min period within a game) is not a large enough sample to make conclusions like the one you were making.

What? So now you're trying to put words in my mouth because trying to seem smart by actually being obtuse backfired?

You can just admit you were talking nonsense, son..

You made an inane point, it's cool. We've all done it at some point. If you try hard enough, you can eliminate all evidence that doesn't serve to confirm your bias and build up a great false sense of confidence. The Jazz just dominated that game all the way through except for a 6 minute period at the end of the 3rd period. Similar to how OKC dominated the middle portion of game 1. These things happen in basketball. They aren't to be taken too seriously. No shame just learn from it and move on.

[SkyHook]

Hmm...33 fts for Jazz, 18 for OKC..25 fouls on OKC, 18 on Jazz...Really lol? OKC was playing at home too.

Did you actually watch the game? The Jazz are the best defensive team in the NBA, no team is harder to score inside. I don't think I counted a dunk by WB/George/Melo in the entire game.

Pardon me sir, but actually the Celtics are the best defensive team in the nba, however the Jazz are pretty good too.

For the entire season, yes the Celtics are the best defensive team at 101.5 points per possession (PPP), squeaking past the second best team, the Jazz, at 101.6 PPP. But if you look at the post-ASB numbers, the Jazz are the best defensive team at 96.0 PPP while the Celtics are are seventh at 103.3 PPP. Incidentally, the second best team post-ASB, the Sixers, are at 100.8 PPP, 4.8 PPP behind the Jazz. The difference post-ASB between #1 & #2 is the same as the difference between #2 & #16.

Bottom line is that the Jazz got significantly better defensively post-ASB while the Celtics regressed. I'll take that trend line.