Thunder Trip Up Gobert-Less Jazz, 112-104

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Utah Jazz, 112-104, at Chesapeake Energy
Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Jazz (41-25) learned shortly before tip-off
that star center Rudy Gobert would miss his first game of the season due to knee
soreness. That left Utah without a key rim protector against the Russell
Westbrook and the Thunder (37-29) in the battle of Western Conference playoff
contenders. Westbrook took full advantage of the Stifle Tower’s absence,
notching his 32nd career triple-double to vault over Wilt Chamberlain for second
place on the all-time leaderboard, as he compiled 33 points, 14 assists, 11
rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Both teams shot very well, with the Jazz
posting respective success rates of 48 percent from the floor and 45 percent
from behind the arc, and the Thunder draining 50 percent of their overall shot
attempts. However, without their dominant big man down low, Utah lost the
rebounding battle by a 43-36 margin. The Jazz’s scoring distribution was rather
unorthodox, with no starter hitting double digits in the scoring column and the
top two point totals therefore emanating from the bench. Dante Exum led the way
with 22 points, which he supplemented with one rebound and one assist. He
received 26 minutes with starting point guard George Hill somewhat limited by a
troublesome toe. Alec Burks followed with 21 points, seven rebounds and two
assists. Trey Lyles was the third productive reserve, as he posted 10 points,
five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. The first unit was paced by
matching nine-point efforts from Hill and Gordon Hayward. The former added one
rebound, one assist and two steals, while the latter supplied three boards and
one steal. However, Rodney Hood, Joe Johnson and Jeff Withey, the remaining
members of the starting five, only combined for 11 points. Victor Oladipo was
second behind his backcourt mate on the Thunder with 22 points, four assists,
two rebounds, one steal and one block. Taj Gibson parlayed his start into 15
points and six rebounds. Steven Adams produced a near double-double of 11
points, nine rebounds, two steals and one block. Andre Roberson rounded out the
first unit’s solid afternoon with eight points, three rebounds, two steals and
one block. Enes Kanter led the bench with 16 points, six rebounds, one assist
and two blocks. The Jazz head back home to take on the Los Angeles Clippers on
Monday night, while the Thunder head to the Big Apple to tangle with the
Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday evening.