Seven years in the making, Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio finally got his shining moment, the fulfillment of promise first shown as a teenager in Spain.
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The surge Ingles kept going finally culminated in another dunk by Gobert that punctuated the decisive 20-3 run that gave Utah a 67-52 lead.
“He made some shots”, Westbrook told reporters Saturday night after Rubio had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in Utah’s 115-102 Game 3 win.
Over the final 7:13 of the first half, Rubio ripped off 15 points on 4 of 8 shooting, collected six rebounds, dished out a pair of assists and had a steal.
The Jazz will look to close out the series on the road in Wednesday’s Game 5.
“Having my name next to his name is an honor”, Rubio said of joining the Hall of Famer in making franchise history.
FINAU GETS HELP: Utah PGA golfer Tony Finau, who made worldwide news at the Masters earlier this month when he tore ligaments in his ankle after a hole-in-one celebration and went on to finish in a tie for 10th place, is a big Utah Jazz fan and was seen at a late-season game.
There were multiple scuffles and six technical fouls handed out, plus a Jae Crowder ejection in the fourth quarter after he delivered an elbow to Steven Adams’ face during a scrum that began with Crowder and Westbrook going at it. “Let’s get past that”. I wouldn’t be shocked if this pick backfired on me yet again, but I’m going to ride the Thunder one last time. “I felt like they outworked us, and that should never happen”, Rockets guard Gerald Green said. After the game, the Thunder star wanted to make things clear that the game wasn’t about him and Rubio. Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 33 points to help bring his team to victory.
“He was on, in so many ways”, Mitchell said. “It’s pretty scary what we’re capable of when defensively we’re locked in like that and offensively when we get rolling”. The seven-time All-Star picked up four first-half fouls.
The poor shooting trend would continue as the Thunder would finish the game shooting 39.3 percent as a team, and the Jazz only barely raised their field goal percentage to 45.1 percent. Westbrook didn’t play a smart game.
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And, perhaps most importantly, the Thunder needs Westbrook to get back to playing like himself. Mitchell is just the third rookie in the last 50 years to score 110-plus points in his first four playoff games, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan. Check out our NBA Public Betting Page for more information.
