BONUS KEY – Shut down Russell Westbrook
I don’t usually provide four keys in these pieces, but the Utah Jazz did such a good job of shutting down Russell Westbrook in the first meeting that this absolutely had to be included. The scary thing about the Thunder is that even if Westbrook is off, they now have both Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to help pick up the slack and make the team as a whole as dangerous as ever. Although each of them has had struggles this season, there’s just no denying that it’s hard to prepare to play against such overwhelming talent.
However, Westbrook is still the leader of this team not only in points per game (22.0), but truly in every physical and emotional aspect of the game. He’s the reigning MVP and the most prolific player on the Thunder roster so, as such, he’s the most important to stop.
And that’s exactly what the Jazz did in their first meeting. Although Westbrook has typically played extremely well against Utah and absolutely punished them in most of the two teams’ meetings, the Jazz were able to have their way with him earlier in the season. The Jazz managed to hold him to his lowest scoring output of the year so far as he finished the game with just six points on a season-worst 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) shooting and 1-of-5 from deep while putting up a season-low plus/minus of -19.
Those numbers are an enormous testament to just how much Utah managed to suffocate Russell Westbrook. Although he has more help around him this year than last, the fact remains that if Westbrook is held in check, then his team tends to be quite stoppable as well.