Key Match-up – George Hill and Russell Westbrook
There’s really no debate here about which match-up will be the most critical for the Jazz to put the majority of their focus on. At 30.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game, Westbrook has been an absolute monster this season.
However, while he’s undoubtedly capable of taking over games and willing his team to victory, he’s also been guilty on several occasions of trying to do too much.
In wins this season, Westbrook is shooting a solid 45.3 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from deep, but in losses those numbers take a huge dip as he has gone just 38.6 percent from the field and 28.4 percent from three in OKC’s 19 defeats this season.
He scores about the same number of points in wins and losses, so truthfully the key is to limit his efficiency.
So enter George Hill.
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Hill has built a reputation in this league as a lock-down perimeter defender and he is certainly showcasing that this season. Of the Jazz players who average at least ten minutes per game, George Hill leads the team in defensive rating at an impressive mark of 95.9. That’s almost four points better than even Defensive Player of the Year candidate and teammate Rudy Gobert.
Hill also leads the team in plus-minus by a significant margin, meaning no matter who is out on the floor among his teammates or opponents, he’s helping the Jazz to significantly outscore the opposing team.
While it would be incredible to see Hill put up another 30-point outing like he did last night, that likely won’t be his main area of focus. For the Jazz to win this game, they’ll need Hill to be dialed in on defense and win this key match-up by slowing Westbrook.
Russell will almost certainly still get his 25 points or more, but if Hill can help to keep him at a low shooting clip like last time he faced the Jazz where he shot just 28 percent from the field, there’s an extremely high chance that Utah will come away with a victory. Westbrook has only shot under 30 percent from the field on two occasions this season, and both have resulted in big losses for the Thunder.