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The Oklahoma City Thunder had an easy victory over the Utah Jazz in a reprise of last year's playoffs. Back then, the Jazz had beaten the Thunder to reach the Western Conference semis.
The Thunder raced off to an early lead and never looked back. They were up by 8 after the first quarter itself, and took a 24 point lead into the fourth quarter in what looked like an easy victory.
Paul George had a super efficient night for the Thunder, shooting lights out. He had 31 points on just 10 shots. Russell Westbrook had another triple-double despite not having a great night; he shot 4-18 from the field and 0-5 from the 3PT line.
Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz in scoring. He had 19 points for the game but did not shoot the ball well, going 6-15 from the field.
The Thunder are now the top ranked team in the West with a 17-8 record. The Jazz, on the other hand, are having a messy season and are now ranked 13th in the West.
Here are the top 3 takeaways from the game:
#3 All-round contribution for the Thunder
The Thunder had good contributions from all their major players. Paul George led the team in scoring, while Westbrook had a triple double.
Steven Adams was once again a dominating factor in the post for the Thunder. He amassed 22 points to go along with 7 boards, and continuously troubled the Jazz from inside.
Dennis Schroder is having a fantastic season, and he had another great game yesterday. Schroder scored 23 points coming off the bench for the Thunder to go along with his 6 assists. He has settled in nicely with the Thunder unit and has proved to be a great addition so far.
#2 Poor shooting from the Utah Jazz
If the early part of this season is any indication, the Utah Jazz are not a great offensive side. They have some great defensive players, but they struggle massively when it comes to producing on the offensive end.
The Jazz rely too heavily on the scoring exploits of Donovan Mitchell, who is only in his sophomore season. They don't have anyone else on the offensive end who can give them good scoring outputs in every game. And Mitchell is not having an efficient year, so the Jazz are struggling.
They shot only 27.6% from the 3PT line in this game. None of their players scored more than 20 points. Their second highest scorer of the game was Rudy Gobert, who scored 13 points.
The Jazz are the 24th ranked team when it comes to points scored per game. They need to step up their offensive game if they want to have another successful season.
#1 Dominant display from Paul George
Paul George signed a 4 year deal with the Thunder in this year's free agency and he has been their best player so far this season. He almost single-handedly won the game against the Nets, scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter alone.
George had another amazing night against the Jazz. He scored game-high 31 points on 8-10 shooting from the field, 5-6 shooting from beyond the arc and 10-12 from the free throw line. He also had 4 steals to add to his amazing stat line.
George is averaging 24 points per game for the season and leads his team in scoring. With a string of great performances, coupled with the Thunder consolidating their position at the top of the West, George has entered the MVP conversations this year.
