The Thunder didn’t play their best game last night losing to the Jazz 97-90 and this definitely wasn’t one of the finer moments of the night for the Thunder.

Jamaal Tinsley with his street ball attitude showed up Nazr Mohammed by dribbling between his legs then drilling the jump shot.

Tinsley was big for the Jazz last night and scored nine points in the first half.

The Thunder will look to rebound from this loss tonight when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers.

Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

Playing in Utah on little rest isn’t an easy thing to do but the Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t help themselves tonight as they lost 97-90 to the Jazz.

The Thunder did not have the intensity tonight and started to fall behind after coasting off some hot shooting in the first quarter.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 23 of the Thunder’s 25 points in the first quarter and then didn’t score a single point in the second quarter. Utah led 52-44 at the half.

The Jazz held Kobe Bryant to 3-of-20 shooting two nights ago and would hold Durant to 6-for-22 shooting on this night.

The Thunder were within a point with 2:56 left in the game. Their late-game offense was nothing to be proud of on this night as Utah’s defense was too tough for the Thunder to live off of their isolation prowess.

If not for two desperation three-pointers at the end of the shot clock by the Thunder then this game wouldn’t have been as close at the end. The Thunder turned the ball over 20 times in the game and gave up 12 offensive rebounds to the Jazz.

Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson proved to be effective big man closers in the final minutes while the Jazz bigs off the bench did their job and then some earlier in the fourth.

Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

Credit the Jazz defense for winning this one for the home team. Westbrook was the only Thunder player who was making his shot but was held to just 11 field goal attempts and four free throw attempts.

Utah is a sneaky good team in this conference and especially right now winning their fourth straight tonight. The Thunder continue to be inconsistent during this recent stretch of games and will need to get their act together come playoff time.

Discipline may arrive in the form of Derek Fisher tomorrow when he clears waivers at 6 p.m. EST. Fisher is rumored to have Oklahoma City at the top of his list of teams to sign with tomorrow and would bring the Thunder some needed veteran leadership.

Oklahoma City will be back at it again tomorrow night when they face the Clippers (26-19) at home. Both teams will be on back-to-backs.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
106.9 Offensive Efficiency (1st)
99.9 Defensive Efficiency (12th)
96.0 Pace (4th)
57.0 True Shooting % (1st)
51.2 Rebound Rate (6th)

Jazz (3-game winning streak)
102.5 Offensive Efficiency (9th)
103.6 Defensive Efficiency (23rd)
94.0 Pace (16th)
51.9 True Shooting % (19th)
51.5 Rebound Rate (4th)

The Thunder and Jazz have met twice already this season with Oklahoma City winning both times and pretty easily too.

In Utah is never easy for a team and the Thunder have been inconsistent at late so this one shouldn’t not be a cake walk. The Jazz have also been hot of late winning their last three games.

Al Jefferson has missed the last few games for the Jazz and is expected to return tonight. Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter have done the job in his absence however putting up similar numbers to Jefferson’s.

The Jazz have size and can do some damage on the offensive glass, something that has been an Achilles heel for the Thunder at times this season. The last time these teams played Oklahoma City set the tone early on inside and they will need to do the same again tonight.

Kevin Durant is matched up with Gordon Hayward who has done a surprisingly good job on him this season. Durant also is forced to account for Hayward on the other end who runs the floor as well as any player in the NBA.

With the return of Jefferson and strong play from Favors and Kanter of late, the Jazz bench may pose a solid threat against the James Harden-led second unit of Oklahoma City. Harden led all scorers the last time these teams played with 22 points.

This may be the last game the Thunder play before signing veteran point guard Derek Fisher who is expected to sign with the team tomorrow.

Up ahead for the Thunder this week is an attractive three games against the Clippers, Timberwolves then Heat.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The Oklahoma City Thunder put together a total team effort in their win tonight over the Utah Jazz. The Thunder returned home after a five-game road trip last week and looked very comfortable back in Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins played great games for the Thunder in the win. Ibaka scored 16 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked six shots while Perkins dished out a career-high six assists to go along with seven rebounds.

It was one of those kind of nights again for the Thunder when they just completely overmatched their opponent. The Thunder beat Utah in their last game played on Friday. The Jazz would play two more games in between the meeting while Oklahoma City was off for three nights.

James Harden set the tone for the Thunder bench in the second quarter, scoring 10 points in the first six minutes of the period doing his usual Harden routine controlling pace, getting to the line and setting him his teammates.

Harden led the Thunder with 22 points in the game to go along with five assists and 3-of-5 shooting from downtown.

Kevin Durant poured in 21 points for the Thunder and while I predicted a bigger scoring night from the MVP candidate, Oklahoma City certainly did not need one from him.

That’s really been the story about this Thunder team this year. It’s no longer a team where you wonder “How many points will Durant score tonight?”

They are a great, deep and now experienced roster that goes about their business and wins games. They don’t need 40 from Durant to win games. He has help from Harden and Russell Westbrook and the role players have been stepping up lately as well.

It’s a team where everyone knows their role and where they fit to contribute on the court. The formula is working and should all season and into the playoffs.

In the fourth it was garbage time for the Thunder reserves but it was good to see rookie point guard Reggie Jackson getting eight assists on the night. He will be an important player for the Thunder come playoff time and the more quality minutes he can spell Westbrook for, the better for the Thunder.

Westbrook scored his 5,000th career points on this play and became just the third player in NBA history to record 5,000 points, 1,900 assists and 1,300 rebounds in their first 274 games. The other two who did it were Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson so great company for Westbrook there.

Oklahoma City (22-6) will play at Houston (16-13) in their next game tomorrow night before getting the next five at home.

Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game winning streak)
105.4 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.6 Defensive Efficiency (14th)
96.0 Pace (5th)

Jazz (1-game losing streak)
101.7 Offensive Efficiency (10th)
101.7 Defensive Efficiency (20th)
93.4 Pace (18th)

The Thunder are finally returning home after a five-game road trip last week and having the past three nights off. The Thunder are for the second straight game matched up with the Utah Jazz, who they beat 101-87 four days ago. Today is also Valentine’s Day and to me that means that Kevin Durant is probably going to go off. He’s returning home, maybe his mom is at the game and nobody loves their mom like Durant does. Combine that with the fact that Gordon Hayward will likely be covering Durant and I’m feeling a big night for him and easy win for the Thunder.

Thunder keys to the game

1. The bench is back home

The Thunder bench always plays better at home and they should be glad to be back tonight. Expect better shooting from the Thunder bench and a big game from James Harden who loves playing at home as much as anyone. Also if Thabo Sefolosha returns tonight, which originally was the plan but now it is up in the air again, we’ll see Daequan Cook coming off the bench again. Cook was 1-for-9 on threes last game so look for him to shoot better tonight too.

2. Scoring inside

The Thunder had a very easy time in their last game scoring in the paint against the Jazz. Al Jefferson is really the only interior defensive presence for Utah and he wasn’t much of one against the Thunder. The Thunder need to continue what worked last game and go to the hole, Russell Westbrook especially. Westbrook had a great shooting night from midrange in his last game and has been hot overall with his jump shot of late but that won’t last forever for him. If Westbrook can wreak havoc at the rim then it will be another long night for the Jazz.

3. Get Durant going early

It feels like forever since Durant had a big game shooting from downtown. Now that the Thunder are back home it’s time to see a big shooting performance from the game’s best shooter. I think Durant comes out of the gates strong tonight and maybe we get to see a 40-point night from him. On this many days rest combined with the matchup combined with the fact that Durant is really due for a game like this, I’m going to go ahead and predict a huge night from the Thunder superstar on this Valentine’s Day.

Prediction: Oklahoma City wins 112-94.

Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

It looked like it was going to be tougher than this. After one quarter the Utah Jazz led Oklahoma City 30-27 and looked like a team that was ready to play tonight.

The Thunder were just too talented, as they so often are for their opponents.

Russell Westbrook had the best game for Oklahoma City scoring 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting. He also had three assists, six rebounds and five steals.

Westbrook was especially efficient with his pull-up jumper in the game and when he’s hitting that shot, he’s just an impossible cover.

A real key to the Thunder victory was the production from their bigs. Oklahoma City usually relies almost entirely on Westbrook, Kevin Durant and James Harden to score but tonight got 36 points from their four big men.

Serge Ibaka led the way with 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Kendrick Perkins added a rare double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Then Nick Collison and Nazr Mohammed combined for 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
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Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game losing streak)
105.4 Offensive Efficiency (3rd)
99.9 Defensive Efficiency (15th)
96.1 Pace (2nd)

Jazz (2-game losing streak)
102.1 Offensive Efficiency (11th)
102.4 Defensive Efficiency (21st)
93.7 Pace (17th)

Last night was a tough loss for the Thunder. They had plenty of chances to close the deal on Sacramento but just didn’t make plays while the Kings did. Now the Thunder will have to deal with playing in Utah on a back-to-back, not an easy task. This is also the fifth straight road game for the Thunder as they will finally round out their road trip tonight and have the next three nights off before playing Utah again with their next game in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoman reported that Thabo Sefolosha could return for this game which means he will most likely at least be back for the next Thunder game. The Thunder have definitely missed Thabo and it will feel great to have him back. For now, the Thunder need to focus on tonight and finish out this road trip strong with a solid win over an inconsistent Utah team.
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