Utah Jazz: Thabo Sefolosha will be missed in series vs. OKC

In what’s bound to be a tough playoff series between the Utah Jazz and OKC Thunder, Utah is almost certain to miss the services of veteran Thabo Sefolosha.

I probably run the risk of extending a curse by saying this, but one of the nice aspects of the current Utah Jazz playoff run is that they are significantly more healthy than they were last postseason. At this time last year, Derrick Favors was far from one hundred percent, Rudy Gobert went down in Game 1 of the series against the LA Clippers with a knee injury, George Hill was ailing and even Gordon Hayward was struck with a case of food poisoning.

Despite all those obstacles, the Jazz were able to overcome to defeat the Clippers in round one, but were subsequently easily outmatched by the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Semifinals. This season (knock on wood), the Jazz have entered the playoffs significantly more healthy. Yes, Donovan Mitchell suffered a foot contusion in Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but so far all signs indicate that he’ll be good to go for Game 2.

Beyond that, save for the expected bumps and bruises of a long 82-game season, the Jazz roster is fully healthy this time around. Well, fully healthy minus one man – Thabo Sefolosha.

In some ways, it could be said that it’s easy for fans to forget about Sefolosha this season. After all, he went down with an MCL injury back in the contest against the Charlotte Hornets on January 12th, less than two weeks before the start of Utah’s incredible turnaround that saw them finish the season 29-6.

The Jazz went on such an incredible run while he was sidelined, that it significantly lessened the blow of his absence. I’d wager that many casual Jazz fans had almost completely forgotten about the impact he had in the first half of the year in spite of Utah’s struggles.

Nevertheless, it’s a near certainty that the Jazz would be significantly better off in their current series if Thabo Sefolosha were able to hit the court. Due to Utah’s success, he may not have been all that missed during his team’s exciting close to the season, but you can bet that he will be missed in the upcoming three to six games remaining in the first-round series against OKC.

The first and most obvious reason for that is because Sefolosha has proven himself time and time again as a lock-down perimeter defender. In several playoff runs, he’s drawn the assignment of covering opposing teams’ best player. From Kobe Bryant to Kawhi Leonard to LeBron James, Sefolosha has pretty much seen it all.

And considering how well OKC’s Big 3 of Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony played in Game 1, how nice would it have been for Utah to be able to throw yet another hard-nosed, veteran defender at the opposition?

Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neale have been among the Jazz’s primary wing defenders this season, but they both struggled mightily against Paul George on Sunday. The Jazz can throw the likes of Ricky Rubio, Dante Exum and Donovan Mitchell at Westbrook as well as Derrick Favors, Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko at Melo, but few if any of those guys can compare to the defensive prowess of Sefolosha.

And perhaps what makes him most special is his versatility that would allow him to check any one of those three stars.

Sefolosha would make life miserable for whoever he was matched up against while giving the Jazz more flexibility in their defensive assignments versus OKC’s Big 3. If one were hot, Utah could give Sefolosha a shot to check him in hopes that his defensive expertise would slow the opposition down.

Not only that, but it’s easy to forget that in the early part of the season, particularly when Rudy Gobert was sidelined, Sefolosha was often Utah’s most reliable player, especially on defense. He had an excellent chemistry with Donovan Mitchell and although the team went through struggles while Sefolosha was still healthy, there’s no denying that he made the team better.

During the stretch prior to his injury, Sefolosha was third on the Jazz (minimum two games played) in net rating at 4.8, which was well ahead of the other players putting in major minutes at the time and only trailing Raul Neto and Royce O’Neale. Similarly, his defensive rating was fourth best on the team (minimum nine games played), trailing only those two aforementioned players as well as Rudy Gobert, who had been limited to only 18 games at that point.

He was an anchor for the team on both ends of the floor and there’s no question in my mind that if he had remained healthy, Utah still would have gone on their incredible end-of-season run and may have even extended it further, perhaps nabbing a few of the games that they narrowly lost.

That same sentiment goes for this current playoff series. Thabo is a guy that makes his team better and he would have done so in a major way for the Jazz against this OKC team.

Not only that, but Sefolosha has ample playoff experience. He’s appeared in 92 postseason games, far and above the most of any player on the current Jazz roster. For reference, the guy who has appeared in the second most is Jae Crowder with 36 playoff games under his belt.

Make no mistake about it, Sefolosha is still an asset for this team during their postseason run as a leader on the bench and in the locker room. However, that doesn’t change the fact that he would be even more valuable if he were able to suit up and be in action for the Jazz.

With all the playoff minutes he’s logged in his career, he would in no way be shaken or anxious to play on such a big stage and would instantly provide a calming presence for the Jazz while serving as an anchor for them on both ends of the floor. He’d particularly be useful while playing in Oklahoma City – a place he called home for six NBA seasons.

Sefolosha was a member of the OKC team that went to the NBA Finals, so he’s more than accustomed to playing within the hostile environment that is Chesapeake Energy Arena. Granted, the cheers and applause were in favor of him when he played for the Thunder before and they wouldn’t be anywhere close to that now as a member of the opposition, but his familiarity with the environment there would certainly help him tune out the noise and keep his teammates focused.

Unfortunately, the Jazz will indeed just have to carry on in their playoff bout without the services of their formidable wing defender. Between his veteran skill set, exceptional defense, playoff experience and familiarity with OKC, Sefolosha would have been an incredible asset to help the Jazz slow down any particular member of the Thunder’s Big 3 that he was assigned to guard as well as to help keep his Jazz teammates cool and collected.

Next: Utah Jazz: Three reasons for optimism, three reasons for panic after Game 1

Instead, in his absence, it will be up to the likes of Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neale to pick up the D, to Donovan Mitchell to set his rookie inexperience aside and continue to shoulder the offensive load for the Jazz, and to guys like Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, Ricky Rubio and Jae Crowder to step up as leaders for a squad that will have to rally if they are to bounce back from their Game 1 defeat.

Having Thabo Sefolosha would have given the Jazz a significant additional edge in this series. However, Utah was able to overcome his absence to conclude the regular season on a 29-6 streak. If they’re capable of that, then I know they also have the ability to overcome his absence in this grueling series against the Thunder, even if it won’t be easy.