Thunder vs Jazz – NBA Handicapping
The Thunder will enter Friday night’s contest in Salt Lake City on the heels of a Thursday night bout at the Sacramento Kings.
Date/Time: 10:30 PM ET, Friday, February 10, 2012
Venue: EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
Broadcast: ESPN
Spread: OKC -1
Over/Under: 201.5
It will be the second back-to-back stretch that Oklahoma City has had to endure in the last week, but they could catch a break against a Utah Jazz team that has won just one of its last five.
Despite owning the NBA’s best record, after pulling off a 119-116 win at Golden State on Monday, the Thunder (20-5) show no signs of slowing.
And although Kevin Durant’s bank shot with 14.2 seconds remaining proved to be the difference, the Thunder had too many lapses in this one.
Durant had 33 points and 10 rebounds, but as a team the OKC gave up a career-high 48 points to the Warriors’ Monta Ellis, not something they can afford to continue to do.
Russell Westbrook had a good game with 31 points and seven assists, but also turned the ball over nine times.
After trailing throughout the fourth, the Thunder finally took a 113-112 lead on Westbrook’s jumper from the top of the key with 1:48 left, but allowed the Warriors to regain the lead in the waning seconds before KD saved the Thunders’ hide.
The one area the Thunder did well in was in three pointers, going 11 of 26 from behind the arc.[soliloquy id=”82219″]
They also shot over 50.0 percent, and are a perfect 7-0 this season when doing so.
They’re going to have to dig deep on weary legs if they want to take this one away from a Jazz team that is will no doubt be hungry for a win after losing two consecutive match ups, including a 104-99 loss at Indiana earlier this week.
The Jazz (13-9) gave up the lanes and the perimeter, and struggled early on before exploding on a 17-4 spurt in the third, and then added 12 consecutive points to take an 85-84 lead on Josh Howard’s two free throws with 7:35 remaining. But they couldn’t hang on.
Paul Millsap had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Al Jefferson scored 16 points for Utah, while C.J. Miles scored 12 points for the Jazz, who are 2-7 on the road this season.
Free Pick: Oklahoma City 101, Utah 92– Without a myriad of talent, it seems that Utah has a rather slim margin for error on most nights, and if you’re the Jazz, the last guy you want to face is Kevin Durant right now.
