Elimination game magic just failed to show up
The Thunder had elimination game magic on Wednesday night. Friday? The Thunder lost to the Jazz 96-91, and the grades reflect the difference in the game.
Corralling Mitchell
DThe Thunder did about as good as could be expected for a half. Mitchell had only 10 points at halftime. But he changed the game early in the second half. The rookie scored Utah’s first 10 points of the half with drives and spins and threes. Basically, everything. He hit everything. Well, almost. He didn’t hit every shot, but he still finished the quarter with 22 points. After his initial surge, the Thunder started sending more defensive help when he drove, but he had already built confidence, so he made a ton of extremely difficult shots. Even though Mitchell had foul troubles in the fourth quarter, he had already left the Thunder playing uphill.
Drama
CCompared to the last two games, this one was a yawner. (Or maybe that’s because we’re all getting sleep deprived after nearly two weeks of late games.) But with the exception of some simmering ill will between Paul George and Jae Crowder, there wasn’t much in the way of drama. Players didn’t have to be separated every couple of minutes. Neither team could build much of a lead. Momentum was sparse. It wasn’t bad basketball. It just wasn’t the hi-jinks that we’ve come to know and love in this series.
Road show
DThe Thunder entered the game not having won a road game in the playoffs since May 16, 2016 when it won Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals at Golden State, 108-102. Since then, the Thunder lost 10 consecutive playoff games on the road. The last three in that Golden State series. All four in the Houston series last season. And the first two in this series. Good teams win playoff games on the road. Maybe not a ton of them. But the Thunder has got to figure out something in playoff road games.
Closing the first half
DAn ongoing issue for Oklahoma City in this series. The Jazz either built on its leads or erased Thunder ones. The latter is what happened Friday. The Thunder lead by eight with a little over two minutes left in the first half. Utah scored on four of its last six possessions of the half while OKC only scored on two of six. The Jazz finished the half on a 10-2 run, which was bad enough. But worse, it found a way to carry that momentum into the second half.
Hubie Brown
AI know that ESPN’s color analyst gets top grades pretty much every game, but I just want to crush on him for a little bit. Brown is a gem. Whether you’re a long-time basketball fan or a newbie on the scene, he adds tidbits to the broadcast that resonate with everyone. Most coaches who spent 20-plus season in the NBA like Brown have lots of knowledge, but very few are able to share it in a way that engaging and entertaining. Here’s hoping the 84-yearold Brown is around for many more years.
Applying pressure
CAfter the way Game 5 played out, the pressure to win swung heavily onto the Jazz. Utah had given up that big lead Wednesday night, and returning home Friday night, you have to think no one in the Jazz locker room wanted this series to go back to Oklahoma City. The Thunder had arguably its best start of this series, holding Utah to only 18 points in the first quarter, the fewest points it had in a quarter in this series. But when Ricky Rubio went out with a hamstring injury and the Jazz scuffled around, the Thunder didn’t manage to build a lead. In fact, the Jazz got their footing back under them and tied the game at half. Under those circumstances, the Thunder needed to pounce. It didn’t.
Free-throw shooting
FBlech! The Thunder reverted to struggles that we’d seen in the regular season. Late in the fourth quarter, OKC was shooting 50 percent from the free-throw line. Gack. But the crazy thing is, Utah was shooting free throws even worse. It was a cringe-worthy effort for both teams from the free throw line.