The Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder are set to collide this coming Sunday for Game 1 of their Western Conference series. Read on for a preview of that game below along with our pick and score prediction.
The Jazz went just 1-3 SU in the regular season against OKC in the regular season but bear in mind that all those games occurred in 2017. The 2019 version of the Jazz are a lot better than the 2017 first-half-of-the-season edition of Utah. Rudy Gobert and the Jazz’s defense has become some form of a medieval torture apparatus that made opponents bled for only 99.8 points per game. It’s just hard to score from almost any point on the court against the Jazz, whose opponents have only shot 44.9 percent from the field, 48.8 percent inside the arc and only 36.5 outside of it. Anchoring the Jazz’s defense is Gobert, who put up 13.5 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game in the regular season. Westbrook can’t get those easy buckets and rebounds with Gobert patrolling the paint and with Jazz guards flummoxing him on the perimeter. Speaking of Jazz guards, Donovan Mitchell will be getting his first taste of life in the NBA playoffs. He leads the Jazz in scoring with 20.5 points per outing.
Okay, Russ, you can now stop hawking for rebounds. You got your triple-double season – again. Russell Westbrook and the Thunder now train their focus on the Jazz, whom, as mentioned earlier, they have already beaten three times this season. That OKC is going to play Game 1 at home gives then a good chance to make I four wins at the expense of Utah, as they have won all of their last 14 home games against Utah dating back to 2011. Oklahoma City is the place where the Jazz go to die apparently. In those games, the Thunder have also gone 10-3-1 ATS. Westbrook finished the regular season with an astounding average of 25.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 10.3 assists per game. Against the Jazz? It’s not that too far off. Brodie posted 22.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 10.0 assists in four games. Russ is a beast.
Writer’s Prediction
Utah stuns OKC with a 103-99 win. Get paid on this one folks.
