Game 5 Recap: Utah 104, Oklahoma City 97

This is Russell Westbrooks "Sexy" look. P.J. Carlesimo is simply stunned by it's greatness.
Yahoo! Box Score

While the score was much higher than our master predictor had anticipated, the result was still the same.

This game started off with a 8-0 Thunder lead. That's right, an 8-0 THUNDER lead. Then, it turned into a 10-3 Thunder lead. Then, it all went straight to heck.

Don't look so sad, Jerry! Zorgon just gave you props!

Honestly, someone could have a bunch of bums play under Jerry Sloan, and they'd do well. Jerry Sloan has such control over his players, it's unbelievable. While this doesn't make him the most popular coach ever, this leads to wins. The sheer fact that his team performed just as well against us without Deron Williams really says something. While I would never, ever play for him, here's to Jerry Sloan and his 1000 super-jazzy wins. While I hate the current iteration of your team, you we're definately fun to watch getting beat down in the 1996 and 1997 Finals.

Anyway, back to the game. The second half of the first quarter and the second quarter were downright painful to watch if you were a Thunder fan. Just absolute destruction. No more needs to be said.

But, during halftime, something happened. The team came back fighting a 30+ point deficit. Grant Long dismissed it as "They realized that they have to play this team 3 more times this year." Well, it was much more than that. They were trying to win. Lead by spectacular performances from Desmond Mason and Kevin Durant, the team stormed back to single digits in the 4th quarter before the Jazz realized that they had to win. Nevertheless, scoring more than you did in the first two quarters combined in both the 3rd and 4th quarter definately makes a statement.

Look, I know that we're 1-4, and I know that things are looking grim, but we are not, I repeat, are not, playing like a young team. We have been in every single game so far, including against the world champion Boston Celtics. We have been competetive not just in the 1st and 2nd quarter, but in the 3rd and 4th quarters. We have dug ourselves out of huge holes. I may be crazy, but I think we can win over 35 games if we can get our act together. Just a few points this way or that way, and we're 3-2. Just throwing that out there.

On the Jazz side of the ball, nobody was better than Carlos Boozer. 21 Points, 7-14 Shooting, 9 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steal, and 1 Block all amount to a very excellent night. You always hear of a guard vying for a triple double, but when a Power Forward gets this close, it's pretty spectacular and says a lot about the man in general. Thus, he gets the Thunder Plunderer Award tonight.

On the Thunder side of the ball, Desmond Mason led the huge comeback against the Jazz in the 3rd and refused to be benched. Until this game, he was arguably the least efficient and least productive player on our roster. Reguardless, his rapid turnaround of 18 Points, 7-14 Shooting, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, and 1 Block earns him the Thunder Wonder award tonight.

After Desmond, the obvious choice for Thunder Down Under is Kevin Durant. He actually hit his shots tonight, going 9-15 shooting for 14 points. His clutch shooting helped almost as much as Masons did. On top of that, he had a solid 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, and 1 Steal. Shoutout to Jeff Green with 22 Points, 6-13 Shooting, 3-3 3 Pointers, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, and 3 Steals.

Playing like a complete embarassment tonight and earning the Thunder Blunder award was Chris Wilcox. When you're a big man, 1-7 Shooting doesn't cut it under any circumstances. A -16 +/- ratio, 6 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, and a whopping 3 Turnovers capped off 22 minutes of hell for Wilcox.

Next Game: Sunday vs the Atlanta Hawks