Utah Jazz vs. OKC Thunder, 11/24/09

Thunder make statement in road win over Jazz

By Andrew Aragon, for NBA.com
SALT LAKE CITY (NBA.com exclusive) -- There is still a long way to go in the marathon NBA season, but the young Oklahoma City Thunder may have had a coming-of-age performance on Tuesday night.

The Thunder thoroughly dominated the Utah Jazz on their home court with a 104-94 victory. Oklahoma City displayed outstanding ball movement, drained eight 3-pointers, and played what's becoming their trademark ? tenacious defense.

"We are playing great right now," said Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha. "We've got a lot of confidence. Coming in a gym like that and being able to win that game is big for us."

It's big because the Thunder aren't supposed to win games like they did in Utah. They're the second-youngest team in the league and their oldest starter is 26-year-old Nenad Krstic. The Jazz's home arena is supposed to be one of the toughest places in the league to play, but Oklahoma City didn't care about following protocol and taking its lumps against a veteran team.

The Thunder instead just took it to the Jazz on defense for most of the night. They forced 24 turnovers, had numerous deflections and finished with 10 steals ? twice as many as the Jazz had.

"They came out tonight and really got after us right away," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "I thought they did a tremendous job defensively, making us take tough shots and got us out of our offense."

A brilliant adjustment made at halftime by Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks was one of the differences in the game. He put defensive-stopper Sefolosha on Deron Williams in the third quarter, and it took Utah's point guard out of his rhythm. Williams, after an effective first half, shot 1-for-5 and committed six turnovers in the second half.

"Deron Williams is a phenomenal player and Thabo is one of the best defensive players in the league," said Thunder forward Kevin Durant. "It was fun watching him play defense like that and helping our team out. He's grown as a player, and he always helps on the defensive end."

Sefolosha's defense was one factor in Oklahoma City blowing the game open in the third quarter. The Thunder, who led by one at halftime, outscored the Jazz by 15 points in the third period, limiting them to just four points in the final six minutes of the third.

"We didn't do a very good job trying to contend them," Sloan said. "You've got to knock them off the boards every time you can and help each other on the defensive end. We got confused on defense and when we have those kinds of problems it's tough to pull yourself out of a slump."

The Thunder understand what the Jazz were dealing with because they recently went through a similar slump. Oklahoma City shot 3-for-23 from 3-point range in its previous game, a 101-85 loss to the Lakers. The law of averages said some of those shots were going to start dropping, and did they ever against the Jazz. The Thunder made of seven of their first 10 attempts from beyond the arc.

Credit Oklahoma City's stellar ball movement for creating so many open looks from the outside.

"We passed the ball and made shots," Durant said. "We executed our offense all the way through instead of two-pass-shot, or one-pass-shot, we got maybe four passes before we shot. We executed our offense."

Durant caused the most trouble for the Jazz, as he scored 28 points on 11-for-22 shooting. He scored 26 of his points in the first three quarters, and also finished with eight assists.

"Kevin's a special player," Brooks said. "He understands the game more each year. It happens that way. He's playing hard, he's humble, and he's working hard. The assistant coaches do a great job with him."

The Jazz, who entered the game on a modest three-game winning streak, were sloppy in the second half. They were whistled for two three-second violations and had 16 of their turnovers after halftime. They made somewhat of a run late in the game, but two turnovers killed their chances.

Utah got its deficit down to 96-88 and had two possessions to try and get closer. On the first one, Jeff Green drew a charge on Carlos Boozer to give the ball back to the Thunder. Next, Paul Millsap was whistled for traveling when he was just inches away from making an easy layup.

The Thunder scored the next six points to put the game away.

"It's not an easy win to come in here and play one of the best teams on their home floor," Brooks said. "We played well. I like what we're doing. We just have to stay humble and keep working. We have a confident team, a team that works and a team that I believe in."

With more wins like Tuesday's, the number of believers in the Thunder will surely grow.

POSTGAME QUOTES Utah Jazz 94, Oklahoma City Thunder 104 November 24, 2009
Notes: Jazz all-time versus Oklahoma City franchise 68-81 and 31-42 all-time in Salt Lake City . . . Forward Paul Millsap scored 13 of his 19 points in the first quarter … Mehmet Okur fourth quarter three pointer passed Jeff Hornacek for fourth all-time in franchise history with 440 . . . Carlos Boozer scored 12 of his 26 during the second quarter . . . Utah committed 16 second half turnovers . . . guard Deron Williams tied a season-high with seven turnovers
Jerry Sloan – Head Coach (7-7 this season)
On the game
“They (Oklahoma City) came out tonight and really got after us right away. I thought they did a tremendous job defensively, making us take tough shots and got us out of our offense. I thought they did a terrific job. We turned the ball over 24 times against a team in our division, in our building. We turn the ball over this many times, it makes it really hard to come away with a win. But we need to give them credit, they got up and got after us and we settled for too many outside shots.”
On the third quarter
“We didn’t do a very good job trying to contend them. You’ve got to knock them off the boards every time you can and help each other on the defensive end. We got confused on defense and when we have those kinds of problems it’s tough to pull yourself out of a slump.”
On the Thunder’s growth
“They are better, much more experienced; they execute their plays and are much, much better defensively. They also really get into the open court and got some easy baskets.”

Deron Williams – Guard (10 Points, 9 Assists)
On the game
“It was a tough game for us, we dropped another one at home. We just got to do a better job of protecting the home court. I thought we defended them well on a lot of plays, they hit some tough shots, you gotta give them a lot of credit. Things broke down and they were able to get some threes off and knock them down. Kevin Durant did a great job of freeing himself a couple of times.”
About the play this season at home
“A couple years ago we lost three games all season so we are already at that mark. It is a little disheartening but there is still a lot of basketball left to play. We just got to get that fire back, get that confidence that we can beat anybody. We used to think when people came in here it was an automatic loss and we got to get that back. Start having fun too.”
On Sefolosha’s defense
“He is a bigger guard, took a lot of things away from me. That is pretty much it; it was just his size and length. I always have bigger guys on me I just have to be more aggressive next time.”

Carlos Boozer– Forward (26 Points, 7 Rebounds)
About the play this season at home
“We are very concerned…we are a team that usually wins 35-plus games at home, and now we’re off to a slow start. We need to turn this thing around fast because it will catch up on us.”

Eric Maynor – Guard (7 assists)
On the game
“They are in the NBA just like we are. We knew coming in that they were a real good team, better than they were last year. And they came in and they played hard and we turned the ball over 24 or 25 times. You can’t win a ball game like that. Turnovers happen in the game of basketball, and tonight it was ours…”

POSTGAME QUOTES Utah Jazz 94, Oklahoma City Thunder 104 November 24, 2009
Notes: The Thunder is now 3-7 in the last 10 games against the Jazz, and has only won one in the last five games in Utah, snapping a four-game losing streak in Salt Lake (this is the first win as the newly relocated Thunder in EnergySolutions Arena)… Kevin Durant scored 13 points in the first quarter and finished the game with 28 points.
Scott Brooks – Head Coach (8-7 this season)
On the game
“I thought we did a good job of passing the ball, sharing the ball, believing in each other and having some trust. They were missing some shots, too. I thought they had some unfortunate breaks and they missed some shots that they normally would make. I thought the key to the game; we really stepped up and made key plays when we had to.”
On Thabo Sefolosha’s performance defensively
“Thabo [Sefolosha] is one of our better defenders. We feel that we can put him on ones, twos and threes, and he does a good job. You know, he just stays with it. Deron [Williams] is an All-Star player in my mind, and he did a good job on him. He missed some shots, but he also had nine assists and got his teammates involved.”

Thabo Sefolosha – Guard [4 points, 3 assists]
On the game
“It’s great. We are playing great right now; we’ve got a lot of confidence. Coming in a gym like that and being able to win that game is big for us. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people this year. Because, you know, if we play like that, with the same intensity, we can go far.”
On his play defensively tonight
“You know that’s my role, playing defense, and trying to be that spark on the defensive end. I think tonight the whole team did a great job defensively, helping me on Deron Williams, and just, you know, closing down the paint a little bit.”

Kevin Durant – Forward [28 points, 8 assists]
On the team
“We’re passing the ball to each other. We are sharing the ball a lot, and helping out on defense as well. This is a good road win for us after a tough loss to L.A.”
On Thabo Sefolosha’s defense
“Deron Williams is a phenomenal player, he is a tough cover on the defensive end and Thabo (Sefolosha) is one of the best defenders in the league. So we decided to switch off, and he did a great job, unbelievable job. It was fun watching him play defense like that, and helping our team out. He has grown as a player, and he always helps us out on our defensive end.”

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