Thunder 114, Jazz 93
Observations, news and notes from Wednesday night’s game……
* Good win by the home team. Even without Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap and C.J. Miles in uniform for the Jazz.
* Make that 1-20 against teams with winning records.
* Can you believe the Thunder never trailed after taking a 4-2 lead?
* Nenad Krstic is getting comfortable, confident and becoming a threat.
“(My confidence) is still growing,” Krstic said. “It’s just the beginning. I just started playing like 10 days ago so it’s really growing and growing. Every game I feel more comfortable and I think confidence is going to come too.”
* Jeff Green broke out of a four-game slump, dumping in a team-high 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting with eight rebounds. He hadn’t scored more than 15 points in the past four games and was shooting just 32.6 percent from the field over that span.
* With six tonight, Kevin Durant has now turned the ball over 24 times in the past four games.
* Scott Brooks jokingly said after the game that he needs to fire the team’s make-believe turnover coach. Ordinarily, 19 turnovers leading to 25 points will lose you a ball game.
* Going 33-for-38 from the foul line will tend to win you a lot of ball games.
* The Thunder continued its recent trend of pounding opponents on the boards, out-rebounding Utah 48-26 tonight.
* It’d be great to see more performances like this out of Russell Westbrook on a more consistent basis — 22 points, 8-for-14 from the field, seven assists, three steals and ONE TURNOVER!
* Kyle Weaver was essentially a non-factor for the first time since he began receiving meaningful playing time. It happens.
* 13 points, 11 rebounds for Nick Collison marked his fifth double-double of the season.
* Joe Smith told me Monday that his banged up left knee would definitely be ready to go by Wednesday. Guess not. Now the question is where does Smith fit when he is ready to return to the lineup?
* Most impressive part of the win to me was the Thunder entered the fourth quarter ahead by 15 and not only didn’t relinquish it but extended its lead to the final margin of 21. Can’t say we’ve seen that too many times this season.
* The Thunder would need to go 2-40 the rest of the season to finish with nine wins. Can we stop talking about the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers now?
* OKC has now held its opponent to less than 44 percent shooting in four of the past six games.
Quote of the night: “They’ve got three great players. They’re going to be terrific players…You can’t expect them to win a championship within a year or so…They’re going to need some time. If they can keep that team together, it’s going to be a fine team.” — Utah coach Jerry Sloan.
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