Thunder-Jazz Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Feb 10 2012 2:48AM

Despite their recent overall struggles, the Utah Jazz have been one of the better home teams in the Western Conference this season. Their next opponent, though, has experienced success recently in Salt Lake City.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will try to wrap up a five-game road trip with their third consecutive win at EnergySolutions Arena on Friday night.

Utah (13-11) has dropped four of five games in February but only one of those losses came at home. The Jazz, 11-4 in Salt Lake City this season, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers at home Saturday but proceeded to go winless on a two-game trip to New York and Indiana.

Utah managed to rally from a 21-point deficit in Indiana on Tuesday to take a lead in the fourth quarter, but scored four points over the final 3:46 of a 104-99 loss to the Pacers.

"On the road, you just can't afford dig yourselves a hole like we did," coach Tyrone Corbin said. "You spend so much energy trying to get back. We did take a lead, which is a positive, we just didn't make the plays at the end."

The Jazz haven't made enough plays against the Thunder in recent meetings, as they've lost the last three games in the series and six of eight. Oklahoma City (20-6) has averaged 114.0 points during its win streak against Utah - nearly 12 points more than the Jazz have scored per game.

The Thunder are 2-2 entering the finale of their current five-game trip, despite having scored at least 106 points in all four of those contests. They had an eight-point lead with 4:48 remaining Thursday against Sacramento but scored just six points from there en route to a 106-101 defeat.

"We had a good lead and in the last five or six minutes we've been good all season," coach Scott Brooks said. "But the turnovers hit us (Thursday). We played with good effort, but we didn't play with a controlled effort."

Russell Westbrook, who was named a reserve on the West All-Star team earlier Thursday, topped 30 points for the second straight game with 33. Kevin Durant added 27 and Serge Ibaka tied a career high with 10 blocks, but Oklahoma City let the Kings take 22 more shots, a season-high 99.

"It was a tough loss, but we have to move on," Durant said. "We have a game (Friday in Utah), and we can't harp on this one."

Durant has averaged 31.3 points over his last seven games against Utah, highlighted by a 45-point effort in a 140-139 overtime loss on the road April 6, 2010. Westbrook has been similarly effective in the last two meetings between the clubs, averaging 32.0 points on 65.6 percent shooting.

Jazz forward Paul Millsap is averaging 25.5 points on 64.1 percent shooting in his last four games against the Thunder.

The teams will meet again Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.

Thunder upend Jazz 101-87

Posted Feb 11 2012 2:23AM

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) With the Jazz focusing their attention on Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook was more than happy to be the star of the show.

"I was working on my shot all summer and I had lots of opportunities to shoot it tonight," Westbrook said. "I had openings I needed to take advantage of."

There were times Durant barely crossed halfcourt when Westbrook was already flying toward the hoop or spotting up for a jumper on his way to 28 points and helping the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Utah Jazz 101-87 on Friday night.

The Thunder improved to 5-1 in games after a loss.

"This is what good teams do. We lost a tough one last night but we came in here and played a tough Utah team in their arena and come out with a win. That's a good sign," said Durant, who had 19 points the night after losing to Sacramento 106-101.

With Oklahoma City's win, the Thunder (21-6) have clinched the best record in the conference through games played Feb. 15, meaning coach Scott Brooks will lead the Western Conference All-Stars for the game on Sunday, Feb. 26, in Orlando, Fla.

"That's great for our team and our organization. I feel truly blessed to be a part of what's going on with the Thunder right now," Westbrook said.

The Jazz appeared determined to limit Durant's offense - he had only 10 field goal attempts - but Westbrook found extra room to drive to the basket and created some fast breaks with five steals.

"I was taking what the defense was giving me," Westbrook said.

Serge Ibaka had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kendrick Perkins added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Jazz's big men often helped on Westbrook and Durant, allowing the Thunder to out-rebound Utah 46-32.

"Their bigs did a good job inside and between the two of them, they had eight offensive rebounds and that hurt us," Utah coach Ty Corbin said.

Al Jefferson led Utah with 20 points and Raja Bell and Gordon Hayward each had 13 points, but the Jazz dropped their fifth game in their past six.

Once Utah's reserves drew to 78-73 early in the fourth quarter, the Thunder answered with a 7-0 run, capped by Nick Collison's driving layup.

The Thunder finished their road trip with a 3-2 record.

Oklahoma City trailed for much of the first half until Durant scored on both ends of a 10-0 run that gave the Thunder a 46-40 lead with 2:15 until halftime.

"We didn't have a lot of things going for us early but we fought and stuck together," Brooks said. "The way we finished the game was good basketball."

Though they have played the most road games in the Western Conference, the Thunder have compiled a 12-5 away record and looked fresh in the fourth quarter, relentlessly crowding the Jazz on defense.

The Jazz, meanwhile, have played 16 games at home (11-5) and the offense is beginning to sputter no matter where they are playing.

Utah hasn't reached 100 points in its past four outings and didn't get close Friday - even though the Thunder had given up at least 106 points on each of the other four games of the road trip.

"They were aggressive and we got stuck in one mode and were never able to transition into something else to see what would happen," Bell said.

The Jazz took their last lead at 58-56 on Jefferson's jumper with 7:28 left in the third. But Westbrook scored six in a 16-4 run to boost the Thunder to a 72-62 lead.

In a three-minute span in the first half, Earl Watson found C.J. Miles for three alley-oop dunks with Durant trailing the plays. But the Thunder found their defensive stride in the second half.

"We gave up some easy baskets early but we locked down after that and didn't let them have what they wanted," Durant said.

The game marked one year since the abrupt resignation of longtime Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and the hiring of Ty Corbin. Corbin is 21-32 as a head coach.

NOTES: The Jazz signed free agent forward DeMarre Carroll on Thursday after Denver waived him, but he did not dress. ... Thabo Sefolosha missed his eighth game with a sore right foot. ... Westbrook has averaged more than 30 points against the Jazz in the past three games. ... Paul Millsap was averaging 25.5 points on 64.1 percent shooting in his past four games against the Thunder before going 4 of 15 for just 10 points in this one.

Notebook: Thunder 101, Jazz 87

Posted Saturday February 11, 2012 2:04AM

By Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Already one of the league's powerhouses on a regular night, the Oklahoma City Thunder are almost unbeatable when coming off a loss or when wrapping up a back-to-back.

The Thunder handled the Utah Jazz 101-87 in a key road victory on Friday night, improving to 5-1 when coming off a loss and 7-2 on the second or third night of a back-to-back or back-to-back-to-back. Russell Westbrook led the way with 28 points, six rebounds and five steals. Kevin Durant chipped in 19 points and five rebounds.

Al Jefferson led the way for the Jazz with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

QUOTABLE: "Toughness, especially on the road. We're a tough group of guys and when the road hits we know what time it is. You can't lose two or three or four games in a row if you want to be an elite team and we know that, and we're getting better each and every season and every game. If we lose, we take it personal. We come back the next game and come ready to play."
-- Thunder guard Russell Westbrook on what it says about his team being tough to beat after a loss and when closing out a back-to-back.

THE STAT: The Thunder controlled the boards, finishing with a 46-32 rebounding advantage over the Jazz. Ten of Oklahoma City's rebounds came on the offensive end, and it turned them into 19 second-chance points.

TURNING POINT: The Thunder pulled away from the Jazz with a 16-4 run in the third quarter. They did it by getting to the free-throw line, sinking foul shots, hitting a couple 3-pointers and playing great defense. Westbrook and Durant combined to make six free throws, Durant and Daequan Cook each hit a 3, and the Jazz shot 1-for-6 with four turnovers during the spurt. Oklahoma City led 72-62 at the end of the run.

HOT: Serge Ibaka shot 4-for-5 and scored eight points in the first quarter. He topped his season average of 7.5 points in the first period, and finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Durant only took 10 attempts, and shot 5-for-7 in the final three periods. Kendrick Perkins was solid for Oklahoma City with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Raja Bell had a hot hand early, making his first three shots and scoring 10 of his 13 points in the first quarter.

NOT: Cook missed his first six attempts, and shot 1-for-9. James Harden shot just 2-for-8. Paul Millsap had a rough outing for the Jazz, shooting 4-for-15 while scoring 10 points. The Jazz missed five shots, committed three turnovers and scored no points during a four-minute span in the second quarter. Utah scored a total of 35 points in the second and third quarters.

QUOTABLE II: "Tonight was a good indication of how we play. We didn't have a lot of things going for us early. We were turning the ball over, but we fought, we stuck together and we competed. I thought the way we finished the game was good basketball. It was a good win."
-- Thunder coach Scott Brooks on his team fighting through some early struggles while playing the last of a five-game road trip and on the second night of a back-to-back.

GOOD MOVE: Brooks' timing with his timeouts -- and how the Thunder played coming out of them -- was outstanding. His important one in the first half came after a lob from Earl Watson to C.J. Miles gave the Jazz a 40-36 lead and sent the home crowd into a frenzy. The Thunder, after a timeout, went on a 10-0 run. In the fourth quarter, after the Jazz closed to 78-73 with nine minutes left, Oklahoma City went on a 7-0 run to put it away after a Brooks timeout.

FANTASY WATCH: Ibaka can usually be counted on for rebounds and blocked shots, and he recently has added scoring to his fantasy arsenal. His 16 points tied for his second-highest total in a game this season. He's scored in double figures in three of his last five and five of his last 10 games.

ROOKIE WATCH: It was a quiet night for first-year players. Enes Kanter had four points and five rebounds in 13 minutes for the Jazz. For the Thunder, Reggie Jackson scored four points on 1-for-6 shooting in 14 minutes.

NOTABLE: The victory ensured that Brooks will coach the Western Conference in the All-Star Game on Feb. 26. The Thunder made a season-low four 3-pointers, and shot a season-low 20 percent from 3-point range. Utah's six offensive rebounds were a season-low.

UP NEXT: For the Thunder, Tuesday vs. Utah, Wednesday @ Houston, Friday vs. Golden State. For the Jazz, Sunday @ Memphis, Monday @ New Orleans, Tuesday @ Oklahoma City.

• Thunder: Maynor, Sefolosha
• Jazz: Carroll

• Thunder: --
• Jazz: --

• Lead Changes: 12
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #28 Tommy Nunez Jr., #40 Leon Wood
• Attendance: 19911
• Duration: 2:15