Utah Jazz at Oklahoma City Thunder: Keys to the Game

Key Match-up – George Hill and Russell Westbrook

I apologize for beating a dead horse, pinning Russell Westbrook in the key match-up for all three Jazz-Thunder contests so far, but the fact of the matter is that for this Thunder team, he is undoubtedly THE guy. As Westbrook goes, so go the Thunder.

Although Westbrook is putting up nearly the same amount of points in both wins and losses, there has emerged a stark difference in his shooting percentages in those two outcomes. In Thunder victories, Westbrook is shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from deep whereas in defeats those numbers are a significantly worse 38.6 percent and 28.6 percent, respectively.

The drop-off in three-point shooting is particularly noticeable. In other words, if the Jazz can force Westbrook into settling for contested threes, there’s a good chance that they’ll be able to stifle his efficiency and, therefore, likely cause his team to falter as well.

But for that to happen, George Hill will have to do a much better job defensively than he did the last time these two squads met, while also challenging Westbrook more on the offensive end. In the last contest against the Thunder, Hill went just 2-of-10 from the field to finish with nine points.

That performance was the beginning of a pretty significant slump for Hill, but of late he has been able to bounce back in a big way. He’s scored 19 points or more in seven of his last eight games and his efficiency has been back up near where it was at the start of the season. In the two games since the break, he’s been incredible, shooting a combined 11-of-19 (.579) from the field and 8-of-12 (.667) from deep.

Hill’s ability to put up that kind of sharpshooting performance against OKC tomorrow night while also forcing Westbrook into an inefficient night will likely be the deciding factor in the game’s final outcome.