The Oklahoma City Thunder were completely outplayed in Game 4 and they looked absolutely hopeless when they were down by 25 points in Game 5 until they rallied to pull out a 107-99 comeback win. He has been the unquestioned star of this matchup for No. 1 seed Toronto, putting up 28.8 points and 5.0 assists, with three games of at least 30 points apiece. He had his 21st 40 point playoff game, passing Jerry West for second all time. Thanks to George’s clutch 34 points and eight rebounds. No other Oklahoma City player scored more than 7 points.
Advertisement
The Thunder appeared headed for their summer vacations early in the third quarter against the Jazz on Wednesday, trailing by as many as 25 points in the third quarter, but a 32-7 run to close the quarter tied the game at 78-78 heading into the fourth quarter. They held opponents to 104.4 points, good for 10th in the National Basketball Association.
HOME COOKING Utah has won six straight home games, by an average of almost 19 points apiece. This Rockets team needs to get consistent with their offense to advance again in the playoffs. The Jazz used an 11-2 surge in the second quarter to open up a 52-37 lead on Gobert’s dunk with 3:23 remaining.
All-Star duo DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry helped the Toronto Raptors take a 3-2 series lead with a 108-98 win over the Washington Wizards. This included the Paul George-Joe Ingles flare-ups and Steven Adams versus Rudy Gobert big men battle. For a Utah team that has been so rock-solid over the last three games, it was unusual to see them completely implode tonight.
Yes, Utah has been far better in the series but these teams are still pretty even. Oklahoma City is not dead yet. “This series is all about momentum changes”.
Yet, the biggest drama of all was OKC Thunder falling behind by 25 points and looking down trodden. James had a spectacular game with 44 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Rubio went for a triple-double in a Game 3 victory, the first playoff triple-double for the franchise since John Stockton had one in 2001.
4-0 ATS in their last 4 home games. Westbrook scored 20 points in the third quarter. Rather, I’m referring to former Jazz draftee Nigel Williams-Goss (whose rights are still retained by the Jazz) who is now playing for Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade club overseas.
If the Thunder prevail in the end, it nearly certainly will not be because they learn to play team basketball in the next few days, but because of individual brilliance by either Westbrook or Paul George.
Advertisement
The Thunder led regular season series against the Jazz, 3-1, but Gobert missed the last two games – both losses – and Utah is now seeing the contrast with Gobert back in the lineup.
