Utah Jazz end winning streak at five as they fall to Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder (6-4) defeated the Utah Jazz (7-4) 115-108 on Monday 15 November at the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Thunder showed a marked improvement over their last game, where they got embarrassed by the San Antonio Spurs 117-104 on Sunday night.They ended the Jazz's five-game winning streak,
where they had a number of impressive comeback victories against elite teams.
The Thunder, off to a relatively slow start after coming into the season with high expectations, were led by MVP candidate Kevin Durant, who had 30 points, six rebounds, and four steals,
and made all 16 of his free throw attempts. Point guard Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka both finished with 22 points on the night, with the former posting seven assists while the latter grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. Erik Maynor went 3-for-5 from three-point
range to lead all bench scorers with eight points while starter Thabo Sefolosha finished with 11 points.
The Jazz were led once again by the play of their All-Star point guard Deron Williams, who finished with 31 points and 11 assists while Paul Millsap continued his impressive play with
20 points, six rebounds, and six assists. C.J. Miles shot 7-for-14 from the field to finish with 16 points off the bench while starters Al Jefferson and Andrei Kirilenko finished with 12 and 13 points, respectively.
On a week where Utah pulled off impressive comeback wins against the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic, among others, they appeared to not want to dig an early hole for themselves in this
one, going up 13-4 in the first quarter. When the Jazz built their early lead to 30-19, the Thunder responded, winning the second quarter 31-23 to take a 58-56 lead into half time.
The Thunder built on their lead in the third quarter, pushing it as high as 13 points before the Jazz put together another comeback. Williams made a layup with less than a minute remaining
in the game to cut the Thunder’s lead to 109-106. But they wouldn’t get any closer as Durant made six straight free throws down the stretch to ruin the Jazz’s comeback hopes.
What they said
Durant said his team still the loss to the Spurs on their minds.
"Man, we needed this win. They've been playing very, very well, and after a tough loss last night, we needed
this. It felt good."
Thunder coach Scott Brooks said he saw an improved effort last night.
"Tonight we left it on the floor, and we can go home and tell ourselves we improved today."
The Thunder can be an explosive team and Williams knew it going in.
"We saw their potential last year and they have pretty much the same team back. They had some struggles early but they're a dangerous team."
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