Thunder Silence Jazz in their Best Victory of the New Year

Russell Westbrook pulls up over the back peddling Rudy Gobert for the game winning shot. Courtesy of NBA.com

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Jazz 97-95, in what was their best win of the new year. The Jazz came into the game with a six game winning streak, but a last second shot from Russell Westbrook would end their run.

This was a game of ups and downs. In the first quarter, Westbrook torched Dante Exum every chance he could get, helping the Thunder gain an early 27-26 at the end of the first.

The Thunder started to hit their stride in the second quarter, but then fell apart to let the Jazz come within three going into halftime.

Coming out of halftime the Thunder looked extremely sluggish. After a great first half, Westbrook struggled to find his shot, missing 13 straight at one point. The Thunder scored a lousy 11 points in the third quarter as the Jazz came storming back to take the lead entering the fourth.

The fourth quarter saw Westbrook and the team at their finest. With under a minute to go Westbrook hit a three to put the Thunder on the high side (kudos to Brian Davis). Off a blocked shot, Westbrook led the fast break with Steven Adams as Russell dished out his 10th assist, giving him his 22nd triple double of the season. With a solid defensive outing on the next play the Thunder looked like they were going to win the game.

Coming out of a timeout the Jazz drew up a play that set up a wide open three from Gordon Hayward with the help of some porous defense from the Thunder. Oklahoma City then called timeout to draw up a play of their own.

I thought I knew what was coming: a contested three from Westbrook. But I was wrong. Following the timeout, Billy Donovan elected not to advance the ball, giving Westbrook more room to operate. As Westbrook crossed the half court line, a screen came from Adams as the Jazz defense looked standstill. Grant Hill tried his best to recover from Adams' screen, but it was already too late. Westbrook pulled a midrange jump shot in front of the back peddling Rudy Gobert to win the game.

Westbrook continues to strengthen his case for MVP and looks to take the All-Star snub as even more motivation.



On another note, Russell Westbrook almost ended Rudy Gobert's career.

Good lord Russell Westbrook almost ended Rudy Gobert... pic.twitter.com/lL1GETVaCM

— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) January 24, 2017