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

[Pillendreher]

You made an inane point, it's cool. We've all done it at some point.

Speak for yourself. You don't speak for me.

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.

I can't help it if you're overwhelmed with what I said and try to attach meaning to it that I never gave.

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.

Expect they didn't. This was a close game all the way. The first one wasn't. I can't help it if you don't understand that.

These things happen in basketball. They aren't to be taken too seriously. No shame just learn from it and move on.

Cute.

[ILOVEIT]

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.

Warrior fan here....and YES...totally more into these other games. OKC UTAH is a great matchup. Actually most of the first round matchups are great.

The way I watch the Warriors is..."hope they don't blow it".

[Catchall]

I think OKC expended a lot of energy to go on that 19-0 run in the 3rd quarter. They probably didn't expect the Jazz to respond after that. Then when Adams was hampered by foul trouble and eventually fouled out, it took away his roll to the rim, which was needed to create space and rhythm for their outside shooters. So that left OKC a bit tired and stagnant. They started playing one-on-one and took shots with tired legs. It doesn't surprise me that the ball wasn't going in for them. On the other side, they didn't have the energy to contain Mitchell's drives.

The Jazz drag defenders through a lot of screening and side-to-side action, it can wear guys down. Carmelo was playing big minutes and having to bang down low with Favors. That's partly why he looked gassed. The Jazz's bigs just wore OKC down and dominated the paint late in the game.

That said, the Jazz are accustomed to achieving defensive ratings in the low-mid 90s. They did it pretty consistently over the last 30+ games of the season.

[Andy123]

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

Defend Westbrook well , and it's hero ball.... Westbrook will want his as long as he's not fed.

[Catchall]

One interesting stat that David Locke pulled out in his podcast today. If you look at the shots that the Jazz and Thunder are getting in this series so far and project the normal percentages they should be knocking down, the Jazz have not yet had a good shooting night. The Thunder had above-average shooting in Game 1, based on the looks they were getting, and they were below average in Game 2. The Jazz have been below average in both games so far. What this means is that the Jazz have some room to improve, just by knocking down the shots they're getting at a more normal rate. Now maybe this will never happen, but the Jazz might shoot better at home and would achieve an offensive rating of 108 or better, based on the looks they've been getting.

[Catchall]

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

Defend Westbrook well , and it's hero ball.... Westbrook will want his as long as he's not fed.

Defense had something to do with it. You have to have brass balls to challenge Gobert and Favors in the paint during crunchtime. It's easy to settle for long jumpers. You'd have to think the Jazz's defense was at least a deterant. Plus the Jazz's rebound advantage was a real help.

[loveandbeer]

Yeah like others have said, this is really a battle with OKC themselves. If they can just break free from their ass play like in the fourth last game then this is over in 5 IMO, and I say that as a guy who loves watching the Jazz. Just clearly outmatched at this point.

I mean, Jazz had to play one of their best games this season and have Adams foul out to just barely scrape by.

[Cappy_Smurf]

I mean, Jazz had to play one of their best games this season and have Adams foul out to just barely scrape by.

Lol, that was nowhere close to one of Utah's best games of the season. Joe Ingles is Utah's best shooter and has yet to show up for a game. Mitchell was also 0-7 from 3.

When Utah had their best games of the season, they were blowing teams out by 30 or 40 points, including a 47 point win over the wizards, a 30 point win over a healthy GS team and a 40 point win over the current dubs lineup that is up 3-0 on the Spurs.

The Jazz are straight murder when they play their best and everyone is hitting shots.

[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.

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

by fairly comfortable, I mean 8+ point victories. Like the poster above stated, the Jazz have played nowhere close to their potential in either of the first two games. When they do, these games won’t be close.

[dautjazz]

Yeah like others have said, this is really a battle with OKC themselves. If they can just break free from their ass play like in the fourth last game then this is over in 5 IMO, and I say that as a guy who loves watching the Jazz. Just clearly outmatched at this point.

I mean, Jazz had to play one of their best games this season and have Adams foul out to just barely scrape by.

lol yeah Gobert and Ingles have been quiet offensively, and we havent got much from our bench, this is far from our best.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[Rauxcee]

[*]

I mean, Jazz had to play one of their best games this season and have Adams foul out to just barely scrape by.

That was far from one of their best games. Check out the 40 point blow out of the Warriors for their best game. This team is at it's best when they play defense, rebound, limit turnovers, pass the ball, hit free throws, and make 11+ 3's. Those are all things they been off/on during the season and this series in particular (minus the defense as that's been pretty consistent).

Good news for the Jazz is they have yet to play their best game. I'd say the same thing for OKC too. Maybe neither team finds their best game, but if one does, and for more then 1 game that team probably takes the series.

[WEB IV]

Yeah like others have said, this is really a battle with OKC themselves. If they can just break free from their ass play like in the fourth last game then this is over in 5 IMO, and I say that as a guy who loves watching the Jazz. Just clearly outmatched at this point.

I mean, Jazz had to play one of their best games this season and have Adams foul out to just barely scrape by.

lol yeah Gobert and Ingles have been quiet offensively, and we havent got much from our bench, this is far from our best.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

Anyone who says the Jazz played their "best game" in this series clearly never watched the Jazz play in the regular season. If anything, I would say the Jazz have actually played rather poorly for most of both games in comparison to what they have shown over the past 3 months. For them to get a road win without playing close to their best basketball is a great sign. I expect a double-digit win in game 3 back in "Swat Lake City."

[dakomish23]

One interesting stat that David Locke pulled out in his podcast today. If you look at the shots that the Jazz and Thunder are getting in this series so far and project the normal percentages they should be knocking down, the Jazz have not yet had a good shooting night. The Thunder had above-average shooting in Game 1, based on the looks they were getting, and they were below average in Game 2. The Jazz have been below average in both games so far. What this means is that the Jazz have some room to improve, just by knocking down the shots they're getting at a more normal rate. Now maybe this will never happen, but the Jazz might shoot better at home and would achieve an offensive rating of 108 or better, based on the looks they've been getting.

Did he compare the shooting percentages to what the perceived “good shots” are, or did he say here’s what OKC shoots best on and they didn’t get that in game 1 but shot well on the shots they normally miss?

[dakomish23]

How OKC handles the PnR with Favors will be huge. Killed them last game by either going to the rim or kicking it to the corner for an open 3, since OKC was trying to trap the ball handler a lot.

[macNcheese3]

I think this series goes to 6 or 7 games. I'd love to see the Jazz knock OKC out.

[Catchall]

One interesting stat that David Locke pulled out in his podcast today. If you look at the shots that the Jazz and Thunder are getting in this series so far and project the normal percentages they should be knocking down, the Jazz have not yet had a good shooting night. The Thunder had above-average shooting in Game 1, based on the looks they were getting, and they were below average in Game 2. The Jazz have been below average in both games so far. What this means is that the Jazz have some room to improve, just by knocking down the shots they're getting at a more normal rate. Now maybe this will never happen, but the Jazz might shoot better at home and would achieve an offensive rating of 108 or better, based on the looks they've been getting.

Did he compare the shooting percentages to what the perceived “good shots” are, or did he say here’s what OKC shoots best on and they didn’t get that in game 1 but shot well on the shots they normally miss?

I believe he looked at where the teams are getting shots on the floor by zone, and looked at the teams' average shooting percentages for the season in those areas, to conclude whether the team is shooting above or below average compared to their regular season.

[erudite23]

There's an idea nested deep within people's reasoning that OKC is simply more talented than Utah, and that as a result it's just a matter of time until that manifests itself and the Thunder pull away. Well, I'm sorry but that is not true. Utah has the advantage in basketball talent in this series. Westbrook is overrated and doesn't play the game with the intelligence necessary to win at the highest levels. Paul George is fantastic but is miscast as the first scoring option on a playoff contending team. He's much better playing off the ball, defending/rebounding his balls off and acting as a secondary ball handler. Carmelo at this point is a caricature of his former self, which was never that great to begin with. Steven Adams is the only person on the team who is much better than he gets credit for--he's a freaking beast and is way better than the average fan understands, imo.

The Jazz have a lot of good-to-very-good players and they play together as a team. Rudy Gobert is probably the best player in this series, in terms of actual impact on winning. Donovan is still young, but he's on the come and getting better seemingly every game. We all saw what Favors can do if given a chance last game.

The Jazz have more talent and are a better team. It's still possible that they could lose the series, though I highly doubt they will. The way some people are talking about this matchup is like OKC are the champs and Utah is some anonymous team lucky to be here. Go listen to Lowe's podcast from today and you'll hear even him doing it (and I think he's the best in the business rn).

The Thunder are a good team that people keep expecting to be great. That is not going to happen--it's time for everyone to wake up to that fact.

[Catchall]

Utah has a more versatile and dynamic offensive system. It's designed to garner high-quality shots, as you'd expect. They have a well-disciplined defense as well, with no real weaknesses. They're well coached and have personnel that match the identity of a defense-first, ball-moving team, a bit like the Spurs.

OKC has two really dynamic offensive players in Westbrook and Paul George. Steven Adams on the pick-and-roll is also really difficult to stop. However, the Thunder's reliance upon a few individual performances creates high variance. Sometimes they look awesome. Sometimes, they can't quite get in gear. In a 7-game series it's hard to tell which model will win out.

I don't think we've seen the best of Russel Westbrook in this series. I also don't think we've seen the Jazz shoot as well as they're capable of.

[dakomish23]

One interesting stat that David Locke pulled out in his podcast today. If you look at the shots that the Jazz and Thunder are getting in this series so far and project the normal percentages they should be knocking down, the Jazz have not yet had a good shooting night. The Thunder had above-average shooting in Game 1, based on the looks they were getting, and they were below average in Game 2. The Jazz have been below average in both games so far. What this means is that the Jazz have some room to improve, just by knocking down the shots they're getting at a more normal rate. Now maybe this will never happen, but the Jazz might shoot better at home and would achieve an offensive rating of 108 or better, based on the looks they've been getting.

Did he compare the shooting percentages to what the perceived “good shots” are, or did he say here’s what OKC shoots best on and they didn’t get that in game 1 but shot well on the shots they normally miss?

I believe he looked at where the teams are getting shots on the floor by zone, and looked at the teams' average shooting percentages for the season in those areas, to conclude whether the team is shooting above or below average compared to their regular season.

If he did that, then that would def be a more valid observation. I’ve listened to him a lot and this dude is locked in on certain things being right and if you don’t fit in there, you’re awful.

[cksdayoff]

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