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

Game 5 Pregame: Thunder at Jazz

The Jazz have 4 wins in 4 games even without Deron Williams. The Thunder have 3 Losses in 4 games. These are obviously two teams headed in polar opposite directions. Playing at the Lake doesn't help either. God of Thunder does not like their chances tonight. In fact, God of Thunder hasn't been this sure about a game all year. So, get ready for some gloom and doom as yet another Thunder loss is broken down for you.

Backstory: OKC hits the road again, where they're winless this year. Not that the Ford Center has been too nice, but at least it gives them a little more mo' down the stretch, and they'd know that Super-Fan Zorgon would have their backs. It's true that the Jazz will be without Team USA member Deron Williams, but they got plenty of talent outside of that, and how many players anywhere close to Olympic level do the Thunder have? And don't say Kevin Durant. Just because I made an article that said he'd be there next time doesn't mean he's at the level he'll be at 4 years from now.

Match-Ups:
Ronnie Price vs. Earl Watson
Edge: Lil Earl
The Price is wrong in this match-up. Who is Ronnie Price, anyway? Some may be saying the same thing in Utah about Watson, but last year this guy averaged only 3.7 points and 1.3 assists. Earl Watson is obviously superior.

C.J. Miles vs. Kevin Durant
Edge: KD
Has there been a bigger rematch this season. C.J. Miles is very fortunate to be seeing the floor, due mostly to the injuries of AK-47 and D-Will. KD will light this guy up, until they finally bench him for Korver, then KD will light HIM up.

Ronnie Brewer vs. Jeff Green
Edge: Brewer
This was nearly a draw, but I gave the edge to Brewer. He frequently scores in the double digits and takes it to the rack pretty well. Stats are pretty comparable, so really this could go either way.

Carlos Boozer vs. Nick Collison
Edge: Boozer
This one's easy. C-Booz fills the Mailman's shoes nicely, and even if we combined Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox to make some freaky hybrid PF, it'd still be close.

Mehmet Okur vs. Johan Petro
Edge: Okur
Recently, Okur has been way off. Still, a way off Okur is way more productive than Petro. Okur on the inside, Okur on the outside, it won't matter, I think he'll have one of his better nights of the season thus far tonight.

Battle of the Benches
Edge: Thunder
Maybe without the Jazz injuries, it'd be closer. Still, I don't think the Jazz bench is anything to gawk at. Korver is a great sixth man, but the Thunder have several solid guys coming off the bench, including Joe Smith, Desmond Mason, and Westbrook.

Coaching and Intangibles
Edge: Jazz
We're at EnergySolutions Arena, which is going to be tough on it's own, not to mention facing Jerry Sloan, who is so superior to P.J. it isn't even funny.

Player to Watch: Kevin Durant. Should be able to eat up Miles. Korver even more so. If they put Ronie Brewer on him, which they probably will, it'll be a little more of a challenge, but still expect them to feed Durant the ball late, as they should be trailing.

God of Thunder's Pick: Jazz 98, Thunder 85