Thunder Dismantle Jazz 104-90.
Monday night in Salt Lake City, the Thunder earned their most impressive victory of the season, ripping the Jazz 104-90.
Not only were the Thunder down Danilo Gallinari, Terrance Ferguson Deonte Burton, and Hamidou Diallo they were on the second of back to back and playing their third game in four nights. You would have understood if this crew wore down at some point, but they didn't. Five Thunder scored in double figures Dennis Schroder leading the way with 27 points off the bench.
The Thunder's usual third-quarter woes did not come into play; it was the complete opposite. Oklahoma City outscored Utah 34-21 in the third frame leading by as much as 20.
Rookie Lou Dort continues to make a case for regular minutes in the lineup. Dort getting the chance to play due to injury and suspensions gave the Thunder 29 solid minutes that included guarding Donovan Mitchell, a dunk, and a three-point play. Dort scored nine points on three of six shooting, but it's his defense and ability to guard the opponent's best players that could keep Deonte Burton on the bench when he comes back from the Blue.
The best moment of the night came with 6:29 to go in the third quarter when Steven Adams took charge from Rudy Gobert. Despite Quin Snyder challenging the call, it stood. The charge was Adams's first of the year, and Big Kiwi celebrated like a kid who just found the last of Willy Wonka's golden tickets complete with a fist pump.
Darius Bazley started in place of the injured Gallinari. Bazley only had two points off of free-throws; Mike Muscala didn't produce much better on the offensive end scoring five. However, Muscala had only played 40 seconds in the last five games before playing 16 minutes on Monday. Considering you're trying to develop Bazley, you might as well give him the bulk of the minutes.
Oklahoma City handed the Jazz just their third home loss of the season. Oklahoma City has now won six of eight. They will take Tuesday off before playing the Kings in Sacramento on Wednesday. Tipoff is at 9 pm on Fox Sports Oklahoma.
