OKC Thunder vs. Utah Jazz Game Grades

Feb 12, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz center Al Jefferson (25) is defended by Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (5) during the first half at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Utah Jazz on the road Tuesday night 109-94 bringing their record to 39-13 on the season.

The Thunder shot the ball well early on but also turned it over a lot and let the Jazz dominate the offensive glass. Utah had 16 offensive rebounds in the game and the Thunder committed 20 turnovers.

OKC shot 55.9 percent for the game but went 13-for-23 from the free throw line and the Jazz attempted 19 more field goals.

The Thunder cut the deficit to as little as five points in the third quarter then Utah went back up by 21 with just over five minutes to play in the game.

Scott Brooks yanked his starters at that point conceding victory to the Jazz.

Here are the Game Grades:

Kevin Durant – 38 minutes, 33 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists – A

Durant had himself a nice game statistically but a few things went wrong for him. He was visibly frustrated for a lot of the game and upset a few times late when his teammates missed him for open shots. He took out his frustration with the first flagrant foul of his career on Alec Burks in the fourth. Durant was really efficient though making 11-of-16 shots, 3-of-4 threes and 8-of-9 free throws.

Russell Westbrook – 32 minutes, 22 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds – B

Westbrook got off to a great start in the game making his first three shots, two of which were three-pointers. The dominance didn’t last however and Westbrook would struggle taking care of the ball with seven turnovers for the game.

Serge Ibaka – 34 minutes, 10 points, 3 rebounds, 7 blocks – C+

Ibaka shot okay for the game and was great getting seven blocks but just three rebounds is unacceptable. Allowing Utah to get so many offensive boards is where the Thunder lost this game and that blame falls on Ibaka as much as anybody.

Kevin Martin – 21 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound – D

Martin returned for the Thunder after missing their last game with the flu. He scored all of his points in the first half then didn’t play much in the second. He went 0-for-4 from three which ends a five-game streak for him in which he made at least three three-pointers. When Martin doesn’t make threes, he really isn’t much help and ends up being a reliability for the other downfalls in his game.

Kendrick Perkins – 28 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 blocks – D

Even worse than Ibaka’s three boards is Perkins getting just one. Al Jefferson would light him up to the tune of 23 points as well. Perkins had a nice stretch of games lately where he was playing really well but he got dominated last night.

Thabo Sefolosha – 23 minutes, 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal – D

In a game where Sefolosha wasn’t needed to shut anyone down, he goes scoreless and doesn’t even have any assists.

Nick Collison – 18 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist – C+

Collison made one of two shots and was second on the team with three rebounds. That’s how bad it was for the Thunder last night.

Reggie Jackson – 19 minutes, 12 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds – A+

Jackson tied a career-high with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He continues to get better this season offensively and has been very efficient scoring at the rim and his jumper is improving too. It’s too bad the Thunder waste this great effort from Jackson in a loss.

Hasheem Thabeet – 11 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 block – C

Thabeet didn’t attempt any shots. He had a very nice block late in the fourth that he sent out of bounds.

DeAndre Liggins – 5 minutes, 0 points, 1 assist, 3 steals – A

Liggins always brings the energy. He doesn’t get into the game until garbage time with five minutes left and makes three steals and has an assist in that time.

Perry Jones, III – 5 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound – B

Calling Jones athletic doesn’t do him justice. He had two ferocious dunks in the last five minutes of the game including catching an alley-oop from Jackson where his head was at the rim.

Daniel Orton – 5 minutes, 1 point, 2 rebounds, 1 block – B+

Orton came in and immediately started making things happen. He grabbed a few boards and got fouled and went to the line four times.