Tip-Off: 9:30 PM CT
Location: Vivint Smart Home Arena (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Television: TNT, FSOK
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @TheThunderGuys for live-tweets during the game
The Oklahoma City Thunder is in a hole after dropping Game 3 to the Utah Jazz 115-102 in Salt Lake City on Saturday night. They were outplayed in essentially every facet of the game, but they can turn things around with a win tonight.
If the Thunder wants to stand a chance, they need to specifically focus in on taking care of the ball and controlling the paint. Oklahoma City, specifically Russell Westbrook, turned the ball over all too frequently on Saturday, and it led to 33 points for Utah. On top of the unnecessary mistakes, the Thunder was outrebounded 48-33 by the Jazz.
Rudy Gobert has been the X-factor in the series so far by rebounding like a mad man the last couple of games and keeping Oklahoma City from getting good looks in the paint. Westbrook needs to step up as the leader of this team and create better looks for his teammates by getting to the basket himself, something he has not done effectively through three games.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Russell Westbrook
- SG: Corey Brewer
- SF: Paul George
- PF: Carmelo Anthony
- C: Steven Adams
Jazz
- PG: Ricky Rubio
- SG: Donovan Mitchell
- SF: Joe Ingles
- PF: Derrick Favors
- C: Rudy Gobert
Injuries
Thunder
- Andre Roberson (left patellar surgery) is OUT.
Jazz
- Thabo Sefolosha (MCL surgery) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 27-12 against the Jazz (17-2 at home, 10-10 away) in the regular season.
- In 10 seasons, the Thunder has won the season series with the Jazz eight times, lost it once, and tied once.
- The Thunder won this season’s series with the Jazz 3-1.
- Oklahoma City has won 11 of the last 15 matchups overall with Utah and four of the last seven in Salt Lake City.
Game Notes
- In eight appearances, Oklahoma City has a 52-47 record in the playoffs (34-17 at home, 18-30 on the road).
- The Thunder is 10-7 all-time in Game 4 appearances (5-2 at home, 5-5 on the road).
- The Thunder is 6-4 in Game 4 appearances after trailing 1-2 through three games. The Thunder is 2-2 on the road in those situations.
- Oklahoma City is 4-6 in series wins whenever they trail 1-2 through three games.
Be sure to check out our special Playoff Preview, as well as our latest edition of “Thunder Things with the Thunder Guys” with our special guest Matt Hofeld.
Article written by Zack Low. Follow @TheThunderGuys on Twitter & Instagram, and give us a like on Facebook.