OKC plays at Utah tonight in a game matching teams with different styles of play. OKC more reliant on its offense, Utah more so on the defensive end of the floor holding teams to 92 points a game. Utah enters tonight at 6-6, but that’s somewhat misleading in that the Jazz have played nine of their first twelve games on the road this young season. At home, the Jazz are 2-1.
OKC is the reverse playing but five if its first fourteen games on the road where it has been 2-3 so far. The road wins were against Orlando and the Wizards. The losses came against Houston, Chicago and Memphis. Kevin Durant played in all of these games except the Memphis game. All three road losses have been on the second night of a back to back.
A good win for OKC last night over Dallas without Kevin Durant. Solid team effort with various players making big plays in the fourth period. Serge Ibaka, Dion Waiters, Nick Collison, Anthony Morrow, and Enes Kanter were all solid on the same night in a home game. No word on Kevin Durant’s status as of this preview. Either way—OKC hopes to build something positive tonight. A step forward.
Not sure if last night was a statement of any sorts, but it was a win and there were some encouraging signs especially with Serge Ibaka and Anthony Morrow.
Utah is a young team with a young core group of Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Alec Burks, Rodney Hood, Trey Burke, Rudy Gobert and Trevor Booker. Solid defensive team which struggles scoring at times. Utah is coached by former Missouri head coach Quin Snyder. Both teams still very much finding their way in the first quarter of the season.
Should be an interesting game to watch with young teams featuring contrasting styles of play.