The Utah Jazz seemingly had Game 5 — and their series — against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the bag. Then, Russell Westbrook happened.
I can’t think of a better way to say it — Wednesday night was total, utter insanity for the Utah Jazz. It was the opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark realized in sport.
The Jazz had the idol in their hands and had seemingly made a daring escape from the temple. Then, just when they thought they could breathe, Belloq emerged from the jungle, flanked by a band of angry natives, and claimed the prize for himself.
Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook was the movie villain this time.
Meanwhile, for me and anyone else tasked with lending our words to the events of Game 5, the entire sordid affair became a colossal headache.
Before the team’s potential close-out bout with OKC reached its climax, I was hard at work on the keyboard, drawing comparisons between the current Jazz squad and the last crew to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs in consecutive years. It was going to be a cool story, man.
For the record, that was the Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer-led Jazz of 2007-08. One year after their team had come from nowhere to reach the Western Conference Finals, they dispatched a very good Houston Rockets team in Round 1 (for the second straight postseason), before succumbing to the LA Lakers in a competitive second-round match-up.
But we won’t think on history anymore today. Although the Jazz were mere inches away from the finish line against the Thunder and a proverbial ticket to Round 2, they lost their close-out bid 107-99 at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Now, Game 6 is officially set for Friday night in Salt Lake City.
In a word, the Jazz got Westbrook’d.
With 8:34 remaining in the third quarter, Utah held a 25-point lead at 71-46. However, Rudy Gobert had been the recipient of a Kane Fitzgerald special for foul No. 4 just one minute earlier.
This is Rudy's fourth. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/Iwg8V4REWO
— Kris (@5kl) April 26, 2018
There are no words.
In any event, with the Stifle Tower forced to the bench, the paint was open for business. The Association’s reigning MVP proceeded to outscore the Jazz 33-28 by himself over the contest’s final 21 minutes. The end result was the eight-point loss; against all odds.
Oh, and Paul George chipped in with 21 over that span for good measure. Good on ‘im?
His and Westbrook’s efforts overshadowed a gem from Jazz forward Jae Crowder. After not being able to hit the broad side of a barn through four postseason games, Crowder dropped a team-high 27 points, hitting six 3-pointers along the way.
After the game, he expressed confidence in where the series is ultimately headed. “We’re going home,” he said. “So we’ll be fine.”
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I tend to agree with him. After all, Belloq gets his face melted at the end of Raiders and Indy gets the girl.
But for myself, the bloggers and those poor beat writers, let’s keep the insanity at a minimum, shall we?