Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

Thunder earn their first fourth quarter comeback of the season against Utah

By Tony Heim

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - DECEMBER 5: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the OKC Thunder celebrates on the court after the game against the Utah Jazz on December 5, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - DECEMBER 5: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the OKC Thunder celebrates on the court after the game against the Utah Jazz on December 5, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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OKC Thunder
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – DECEMBER 5: The OKC Thunder stand on the court during the National Anthem before the game against the Utah Jazz on December 5, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Oklahoma City Thunder finally got over the fourth quarter scaries. And it happened in one of the most improbably games of the season.

Excuse me if this recap isn’t coherent – I’m still shook from that victory. The Oklahoma City Thunder clawed back from a 17-point deficit, defeating the Utah Jazz 100-94 for their third straight victory.

The first 32 minutes of the game we’re heinous; with four minutes to go in the third OKC was down 72-55. The Thunder turned the ball over 17 times while only recording 12 assists. Their defense was poor, allowing Utah to get far too many open looks from everywhere on the court. Then Russell Westbrook happened (we’ll get to that in the grades portion of this recap).

Westbrook’s personal run jumpstarted a Thunder team that looked like they were playing on the fifth night of a back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. From there on out we experienced the Oklahoma City basketball everyone expected heading into the season.

The Thunder outscored Utah by 23 points in the last six minutes behind a relentless attack on offense and a suffocating defense. Only 4 of OKC’s last 29 shots came from behind the arc in that time because they were actively looking to find easy, open shots. They connected on 17 of those 29 shots. Even more impressive, they grabbed 7 of the 12 rebounds.

Ultimately the only difference between the first 32 minutes and the last 16 minutes was pure effort. The Thunder started the game like a team that didn’t care about the outcome, yet ended like a team fighting as if it was an elimination game. Now it’s a matter of playing like that for every minute of the game, no matter the opponent.

Let’s get to the grades.

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