Utah Jazz bag first win behind Paul Millsap’s big night
The Utah Jazz finally bagged their first win this season when they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 120-99, behind Paul Millsap’s huge double-double night on Sunday 31 October at the Oklahoma
City Arena.
The 25-year old power-forward scored 30 points, grabbed 16 points, and dished out six assists for the Jazz, who absorbed humbling defeats against the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns with
an average losing margin of 19 points.
"People said a lot about our team, but tonight we proved otherwise," Millsap said. "We proved that we could play defence, we proved that we could move the ball like we're supposed to, we
proved that we can make shots."
Al Jefferson, who is expected to fill in the gap left by Carlos Boozer, racked up 23 points and 10 rebounds, while C.J Miles added 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field, highlighted
by 3-for-5 shooting from beyond-the-arc.
Andrei Kirilenko proved that he is not affected by the trade rumours surrounding him as the Russian forward chipped in 19 points, while Deron Williams directed the show with his 16 points
and 15 dimes for the Jazz, who have not started the season with a 0-3 record since the 1979-80 season.
"We knew we could play a lot better offensively and defensively. That's why I said we weren't worried," Williams said. "Upset because we're losing, but we weren't worried. We knew we could
play a lot better on both ends. We came out and did that."
The Jazz had a strong start, but the Thunder managed to stay within striking distance, 27-23, at the end of the first period. However, the Jazz made a huge blast in the second period, ending
the half with a 17-4 flurry to take a 56-40 halftime lead.
The Jazz weren’t done yet as they opened the second half with a 17-6 blast, which pushed their lead up to 27 points, 73-46, but the Thunder made key defensive adjustments and made a run of
their own.
The Thunder unleashed an 11-0 run and managed to trim Utah’s lead to 13 points, 98-85, but their efforts were not enough as the Jazz held on to their big lead to hand the Thunder its first
defeat of the season.
"Tonight, finally we found that rhythm offensively and defensively. So, I hope we can stay that way," Kirilenko said.
Reigning NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant led the Thunder in scoring with his 28 points, while Russell Westbrook finished the game with 22 points, four assists, and four steals, but was
outplayed by his Jazz counterpart, Williams.
"We were one of the league leaders on defense last season, but we weren't very good tonight," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said.
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