On Sunday, March 14, the Utah Jazz was visiting the Oklahoma City Thunder. The spotlight match-up was a battle royal between point guards Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook. Williams was plenty impressed with Westbrook:
"Russell had a good game tonight," Williams said. "We couldn't contain him off the pick and rolls. He shot the ball well tonight from mid range and that made him more deadly."
Westbrook scored 30 for the night along with 11 assists (5 to's), 3 rbds, and a steal, "Robin to Kevin Durant's Batman." The Cape Crusader was good for 35 points tonight. Williams, in a losing cause, had 27 points and 14 dimes. Williams fouled out in the game's last seconds.
The Thunder wins at home over the Jazz, 119-111.
Hot Thunder extend win streak to 5, pick up ground on Jazz
By Randy Renner, for NBA.com
Posted Sunday March 14, 2010 11:27PM
OKLAHOMA CITY (NBA.com exclusive) -- Oklahoma City's young Thunder continued with their "one game at a time" and "no game is more important than the other" approach Sunday, even as the Utah Jazz, just ahead of them in the standings, came into the Ford Center.
The visiting, veteran Jazz however admitted this game meant more than most with forward Carlos Boozer going so far as to say since the Jazz (42-24) and the Thunder (41-24) could meet in the first round of the playoffs, "we'd like to send a message."
The message was sent alright, but it came from the Thunder who led wire-to-wire and won 119-111 in front of a roaring sellout crowd in the Ford Center. A crowd that chanted M-V-P...M-V-P as Oklahoma City All-Star forward Kevin Durant splashed two free throws to ice the game. He finished with a game-high 35 points, the 37th time he's done that this season, extending his franchise record.
"They're a great team," Durant said. "We knew they were physical. I thought we did a good job of matching them."
The game was a hard-fought battle on both ends of the floor. The Thunder were whistled for more fouls but the Jazz complained their way to two technicals, one on coach Jerry Sloan and the other on forward Carlos Boozer.
"They're about as physical a team as we'll face," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "They play physical, tough basketball and they're coached by one of the all-time greats. Both teams really fought hard."
"We just couldn't get a stop and that's what made it difficult to win," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "We need to give them credit for who they are and what they were able to accomplish."
With the win the Thunder accomplished a couple of things. They now have the tie-breaker against the Jazz, having won the first three of the four games these two teams will play against each other in the regular season. Oklahoma City also moved to within a half-game of the Jazz for fourth place in the Western Conference.
"Tie-breakers at this point, that's not a focus for us," said Brooks, sticking to his one game at a time theme. "That's something we'll talk about later."
"It was a big game for us and they played better," Williams said. "They played better both offensively and defensively. They're a great young team."
The Thunder jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead and never trailed, leading by as many as 12 points in the first half and 14 in the second.
Oklahoma City's defense was aggressive in the early going, forcing Utah into five turnovers in the first quarter and eight in the first half. The Thunder also blocked five shots and dominated in the paint and in transition, outscoring Utah 30-16 down low and 10-2 on fast breaks in the first 24 minutes.
"We were active on defense early and that got us going," Brooks said, "but they still hit a lot of shots but so did we."
In fact, Oklahoma City blistered the nets shooting a season-best 60.3 percent for the game. Utah shot 50.6 percent overall and 57.9 percent on 3-pointers. Jazz rookie Wesley Matthews was 9-for-11 overall and 6-for-7 on 3-pointers to lead the Jazz with a career-high 29 points. Forward Carlos Boozer had 18 and grabbed 11 rebounds.
The spotlight match-up though was a battle royal between point guards Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook. They matched each other almost point for point and assist for assist. Westbrook finished with 30 points and 11 assists while Williams accounted for 27 points and 14 dimes. Williams fouled out in the game's last seconds.
"It was like a wrestling match between those two," said an admiring Durant. "It was fun to watch."
"He's a great point guard," said Westbrook of his opponent, "one of the best in this league. Fortunately I had a good game." One of his best, just four points shy of his career high.
"Russell had a good game tonight," Williams said. "We couldn't contain him off the pick and rolls. He shot the ball well tonight from mid range and that made him more deadly."
OKC forward Jeff Green scored 14 points and Nenad Krstic and Thabo Sefolosha each had 13.
Both teams came in hot. Utah had won four of their last five and 23 of their last 29 while the Thunder came in riding a four-game winning streak. With this win against Utah, the Thunder have won 17 of their last 20.
"We know what time of year it is," Durant said. "If we just keep focusing on what we have to do and play hard the sky's the limit for us."
Boozer, who had said before the game his team wanted to send a message, ended up sending congratulations to the Thunder.
"Hats off to them," Boozer said. "They played very well. They shot 60 percent against us and just kicked our butts. When they shoot like that you're going to lose. Westbrook and Durant just cooked us tonight."
So was it the Thunder who sent a message to the Jazz and the rest of the Western Conference?
"I don't know if we sent a message or not," Durant said, "but we showed them we're not gonna back down."
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