Utah Jazz-OKC Thunder 12/5: Jazz depleted in back-to-back

The Utah Jazz saw their six-game win streak come to an end at the hands of Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

After leading by 17 in the third quarter, the Utah Jazz faltered to allow the Oklahoma City Thunder to rally back in their road game on Wednesday night. Thanks to a thunderous fourth quarter, OKC ended Utah’s win streak, beating the Jazz 100-94.

Jazz fans are a fickle bunch. Early in the season after a losing streak, there were many calling for the Jazz to tank. Following their six-game winning streak, the Jazz were the new Golden State Spurs.

Against the Thunder, in the second game of a back-to-back and coming off a 47-point (FORTY SEVEN POINT) victory over a playoff team, the Jazz fell short and the pundits on Jazz Twitter had all sorts of theories about why they failed.

These theories ranged from the NBA and referees having it out for a small-market team (even though OKC is also a small markter), to the blame game against Rudy Gobert, Alec Burks or Ricky Rubio, or even just the combined star power of the Thunder.

I have a different theory. The Jazz simply ran out of gas.

Recap

The Jazz jumped out to an early lead with some hot shooting from Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles. They looked ready to cruise to a victory after a 28-19 first quarter.

Unfortunately, turnovers in the second quarter kept Utah from pulling away and the Jazz led by eight at halftime.

The Jazz looked ready for the Thunder rally in the second half and both teams came out hot. Donovan Mitchell took over and the Jazz extended the lead to 17 at one point in the third quarter.

Then the Thunder rally began. From here, the momentum shifted. The lead slowly slipped point by point and the Jazz just sputtered to a stop on both sides of the ball. OKC grabbed offensive board after offensive board and it was too much for the Jazz to overcome.

Russell Westbrook dominated with 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 14 assists. He did have seven turnovers, but he was the difference-maker (obviously) down the stretch. His best basketball also came while Paul George and Carmelo Anthony were on the bench.

But why did they run out of gas?

The simplest answer is that it was a back-to-back in which the Jazz lost an hour of time flying to OKC.

The extended version includes that Rudy Gobert was on his second game back from a three-week absence and the Jazz rotation was short a couple of key pieces that could have been difference makers in terms of fresh legs and an extra offensive punch. Rodney Hood and Raul Neto are the key ones here, since both have played well recently, but it also includes Dante Exum and Joe Johnson.

Positive takeaways

I’m not going to complain too much here because there was a lot to like about this game. First of all, the Jazz gave themselves a decent chance to win after FiveThirtyEight gave them only a 26 percent chance of victory. It was essentially a scheduled loss (like the rest of December for Utah).

Donovan Mitchell also deserves some accolades.

With Andre Roberson and Paul George guarding him throughout the night, who are two of the best wing defenders in the game, I expected Mitchell to struggle. Instead, he scored 31 points on 50 percent shooting with four assists and five steals. He did have some key turnovers down the stretch, but he was also carrying the team on his back.

Take this shot, for example. This is an extremely difficult shot. We’ve seen this play run for Gordon Hayward, but never from that angle or distance.

Mitchell also continues to impress with his incredible vision.

The Jazz also had 16 steals and continued to play beautiful team basketball (see play above and below), despite the tough defense (fourth in the league) from the Thunder.

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I have to believe that if this wasn’t a back-to-back, the Jazz would have taken this one away. Both games against OKC this season have been on the second of back-to-backs for the Jazz, and they managed to win the first.

The Jazz and Thunder are now tied in the season series at one game apiece.