That was rough.
The Jazz built a 25-point lead early in the third quarter only to see it disappear in a matter a minutes as the Thunder's Russell Westbrook and Paul George caught fire.
The result was a stunning 107-99 loss in Oklahoma City.
Utah was on the brink of elminating OKC from the playoffs, but foul trouble for Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors opened the door for a remarkable comeback—one the Jazz will look to bounce back from when the teams meet again in two days.
The Jazz lead the series 3-2 heading into Game 6 Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Jae Crowder tied his career high with 27 points, while Donovan Mitchell finished with 23 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Joe Ingles added 16 points.
Ricky Rubio (10 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists), Gobert (11 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks) and Favors (10 points in 24 minutes) also scored in double figures for the Jazz.
Westbrook torched the Jazz, scoring 33 of his 45 points in the second half. He played all 24 minutes after halftime, a stretch where he shot 12-for-23 from the field (including 5-for-7 from 3-point range).
George scored 21 of his 34 points after halftime. He shot 12-for-26 from the field and added eight rebounds and two steals. No other Thunder player scored in double figures.
Wednesday's Best
After struggling from the field throughout the series (7-for-28 entering Wednesday's game), Crowder came out and lit it up, shooting 6-for-14 from 3-point range to help the Jazz build their big lead. He added eight points, three assists and a steal in 37 minutes off the bench.
Key Stretches
After a sloppy start, the Jazz got rolling late in the first quarter. Crowder came off the bench to score nine straight Utah points—on two straight threes, a breakaway layup and a free throw. Crowder then dished to Ingles for a corner three and, after a bucket by Westbrook, he canned his third three of the game to cap a 15-5 run and give the Jazz a 25-19 lead. Ingles and Crowder added two more threes to push Utah's lead to nine at 31-22.
Westbrook got going in the second period, but Mitchell answered with a jumper and Ingles drilled a big three that just beat the shot clock. Two free throws by Gobert, a breakaway dunk by Ingles (off an acrobatic pass from Gobert), two free throws by Crowder, and a transition dunk by Gobert (after Mitchell stole a pass by Westbrook) pushed Utah's lead to 15.
The Jazz came out of halftime on fire, with Mitchell opening the third quarter with a fancy left-handed scoop shot in the lane. Rubio canned a three (after another turnover by Westbrook), Mitchell hit a corner three of his own (after Gobert stuffed Westbrook at the rim), and Crowder drilled two more triples to push Utah's lead to 25 within the first four minutes of the second half.
And ... that's when the wheels came off for the Jazz. The Thunder went on a 32-7 run over the final eight minutes of the third quarter after both Gobert and Favors were forced to the bench with four fouls apiece. Westbrook caught fire and made five straight shots with Utah's starting big men out of the game. Gobert came back in late in the third period and was quickly whistled for his fifth foul.
Rubio hit a three early in the fourth to keep the Jazz close, and then four straight points (a slick bucket in the lane by Mitchell and a putback slam by Gobert) gave Utah a 91-90 lead with 6:38 left in the fourth quarter. Consecutive threes by Westbrook and Alex Abrines, though, gave OKC a five-point lead. Mitchell got to the rim for two straight buckets to pull Utah within three with just over two minutes left, but George immediately canned a three to keep the Thunder just out of reach.
Significant Stats
9:23
The Thunder shot 16-for-48 (33.3 percent) from the field until the 9:23 mark of the third quarter—when Gobert picked up his fourth foul. From that point on, OKC shot 23-for-41 (56.1 percent) and outscored the Jazz by 29 points.
38
The Jazz made 13 3-pointers, with Crowder (6-for-14) and Ingles (4-for-9) leading the way. The two combined for seven 3-pointers in the first quarter alone.
17
The Jazz turned the ball over 17 times, which led to 18 Thunder points. Six of those turnovers (and eight of the points off of them) came in the third quarter
Coach's Quote of the Night
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
Notable
Utah outrebounded Oklahoma City 46-44 (and 10-7 on the offensive glass), though the Thunder had a 20-6 advantage in second-chance points. ... The Jazz shot only 21-for-60 (35.0 percent) from the field in the final three quarters. ... Crowder, as well as Oklahoma City center Steven Adams and head coach Billy Donovan, picked up technical fouls. ... Each team made 20 free throws.
Up Next
The Jazz will return home for Game 6 against the Thunder on Friday. Tipoff is set for 8:30pm MT and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
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