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| AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki |
A sloppy start to first quarter resulted in a quick 10-4 lead taken by the Jazz, but the Thunder would proceed to outscore Utah 25-9 the rest of the quarter. Russell Westbrook led the way with his nine points on 4-6 shooting, to go along with his three rebounds and four assists. The Honey-Badger penetrated the Jazz's defense at will, and would proceed to dump off to Collison and Ibaka down low for easy baskets.
The Thunder did exactly what the needed to do on the offensive end of the floor in the first quarter. They out scored the Jazz 12-2 in the paint, and ran the floor excellently, scoring five points in the break. Though the Thunder had six turn overs, they only allowed two Utah points off of them.
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| AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki |
Oklahoma City absolutely turned on the jets defensively in the second quarter. They allowed the Jazz to score just nine points in the entire quarter on a measly 12% shooting. Kevin Durant struggled to get his shot to fall in the quarter, going just 1-4 from the field for five points. Ten points coming off the bench from Kevin Martin and D-Fisher combined helped the Thunder on the offensive end, and take a 50-28 lead into half time.
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| AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki |
After scoring just eight points in the first half, Kevin Durant owned the third quarter by going off for fifteen points on a near perfect 5-6 shooting. Durant willed his team to extend their lead by as many as thirty two. To go along with his fantastic scoring quarter, KD pulled down five rebounds to give a double-double by the end of the third quarter.
The Thunder split the difference at 31 a piece in the fourth quarter, maintaining their lead throughout. Though the Jazz got as close at sixteen at one point, Oklahoma City never let it dip below that margin. The bench played the entire quarter for the Thunder, and was excellent at getting to the line, making nine of their ten free throws.
Thunder Essentials:
Fastbreak - B
The Thunder did a pretty good job in the break tonight, scoring fifteen points. Their defense in the break wasn't at all, though. They gave up twenty three points to the Jazz in the run and did a pretty bad job at contesting the shots. Most of the points were coming off an atrocious twenty five Thunder turn overs for twenty two points, something Oklahoma city has to stop.
Interior defense - A
Oklahoma City did just what they needed to do when it came to protecting the paint. They held Utah to just thirty two points in the paint, playing excellent interior defense and contesting each shot, they were able to body up every man down low and deny easy baskets inside.
Play Consistent - B
They were able to hold down their lead for most the game, starting in the first few minutes. They had a little scare with the second unit in the fourth, but for the most part - Oklahoma City was able to hold on to their style of play, though it wasn't the best style, and win the game.
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