Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

Five takeaways from the Thunder’s first win of the 2018 Playoffs

By Tony Heim

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - APRIL 15: Paul George
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - APRIL 15: Paul George /
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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – APRIL 15: James Goldstein shakes hands with Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz before the game against the OKC Thunder during Game One of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 15, 2018 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – APRIL 15: James Goldstein shakes hands with Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz before the game against the OKC Thunder during Game One of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on April 15, 2018 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /

4. Shutting down Donovan Mitchell is the most important key to this series

Donovan Mitchell put on a show to start the game. The rookie sensation dropped 9 points within the first 4:14 of play, making all four of his shots. Utah jumped out to a 10-point lead in that span – it was essentially the only big run they would get all game.

Once Oklahoma City made it an emphasis to play him more physical and actually put Paul George on him, things changed though. Ricky Rubio was forced to take 18 shots (mostly jumpers) because Mitchell simply could not consistently get open.

The Jazz came into their own during the regular season because of two things:

  1. Rudy Gobert returned from injury.
  2. They handed Mitchell the keys to the offense.

The 21-year old can score from anywhere on the court – he will cause problems through the rest of the series. But when the Thunder made the concerted effort to stop him, Utah’s offense began to suffer.

All this said, and Mitchell still scored 27 points on 11-22 shooting from the field. The kid is impressively calm for his age and will continue to put up numbers through the rest of the series. But if last night taught us anything about Utah’s offense, it’s that they require Mitchell to initiate nearly every big run.

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