Game Preview - Thunder vs Jazz

The Oklahoma City Thunder (39-12) take on the Utah Jazz (28-24) tonight at the Energy Solutions Arena. This is the second meeting between the two teams, and the Thunder lead the series 1-0 after a 106-94 victory back on November 30th.

Photo by Angela Rowe | OKC Thunder photo

Thunder's Previous Game: The Thunder blew out the Phoenix Suns 97-69 for the second consecutive game on Sunday night. Oklahoma City tied it's franchise record of points allowed in a game, a record that was made earlier this season against the Charlotte Bobcats.


The Thunder's stringy defense lead the charge against the Suns, forcing 15 turn overs, and scoring 24 points off of a total 23 Suns turn overs. Thabo Sefolosha had another career night against the Suns, a team that always seems to leave him open from the arc. He set a new career-high with 5 made threes, just a game after he set his now "old" career high at 4 made threes. He scored a season-high 20 points to go along with his career feat.


Last Meeting with Jazz: A well-rounded offensive effort by the Thunder was the key to their 106-94 victory of the Jazz back in late November. Five Thunder players scored in double figures, notably Kendrick Perkins, who had his first double-digit scoring output of the season - scoring 12 points to go along with his 6 rebounds.


He'd perhaps would've been able to finish the game with his first double-double of the season if it wasn't for Westbrook's 13 rebound, 23 point night on 6-18 shooting. Oklahoma City held the Jazz to just 38 points in the paint on a measly 19/45 shooting, a team that is averaging 43 points in the paint a game, and scoring 52 points themselves.


Utah has one of the best defenses in the league, allowing just 98 points a game. Their forte has been their interior defense which gives up just 44 points in the paint per game, and ranks 5th in the league in block shots - swatting an average of 6.4 balls a game.


Thunder Essentials: 


Rebounding - The Jazz rank 10th in the league in offensive rebounding, grabbing 12.2 a game. Oklahoma City has shown success in the past on the glass against the Jazz. They out rebounded Utah 47-40 in their last meeting, despite allowing 12 offensive rebounds.


Second Chance Points - The Jazz have excellent big men in their rotation with Al Jefferson, Paul Milsap and Derick Favors. OKC allowed 16 second chance points in their last meeting and that's far too many. If they want to be able to escape Energy Solutions Arena tonight with a victory, they have to limit their activity on the glass and play hard, physical basketball in the paint.


Kevin Durant - KD has been quiet as of late, averaging just 20.7 points over the last four games, which have all been blowouts, and KD hasn't been playing very many minutes of the fourth quarters. Expect KD to either have a sub-par average night scoring wise - maybe saving his energy for the Heat game on Thursday, or he shall go off tonight for 40 points. I have a feeling it will be one or the other, but KD needs to bring his A game tonight.