OKC Thunder Pull Off WILD Beat Down of Utah Jazz | This Team is HISTORIC

OKC Thunder Pull Off WILD Beat Down of Utah Jazz | This Team is HISTORIC

On today’s Locked on Thunder podcast, the Thunder pull off a crazy beatd down of the Utah Jazz. We’re going to dive into it all. You are Locked on Thunder, your daily Oklahoma City Thunder podcast, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. Let’s get it going on the Lockdown Thunder podcast. on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I am your host, media member, and beat writer for thunder onsi.com. Ryland Styles. Follow me on Twitter at Ryland_styles. Follow the show on Twitter at lofunderpod. On today’s show, we’re diving into a crazy second half and a beatdown of the Utah Jazz with the Thunder getting another blowout win in a tale of two halves. And where they sit in the NBA Cup standings, they control their own destiny in this game. Of course, no Jaylen Williams, no Aaron Wiggins, no Topaturro Kenrich, and Brooks Barnheiser was sent down to the blue where he had a great day for the OKC blue. For the Jazz, no Walker Kesler, no no Nang, but Utah other than that was healthy. And Utah, to their credit, started this game off red-hot and they got up to play the defending champions and they made OKC uncomfortable in the first quarter. Uh offensively, the Thunder looked a bit too sluggish uh on the defensive end to begin this one on top of the Jazz’s three-point shot making. The Jazz, who have never been accused of being an excellent and a proficient passing team, utilized a great motion offense and great passes to really trip up OKC and find open looks and knock them down. And so after this sluggish start when OKC was hitting deep threes and they felt really good and they were forcing OKC to cover more ground because of uh their player spacing in this game. The three-point shot of course was starting to be the great equalizer to really kind of neutralize the talent advantage in this contest. But as we know basketball a game of runs and as Mark always says this team course corrected. They started to hound this Jazz team on the perimeter in the second quarter and it really trickled down into the fact that they got back in this game at halftime where Mark got teed up which for good reason in the sense of you know he was within his right to argue with the officials after a couple no calls on Thunderrees where they got hacked. Uh I I think that you know the the ref let him talk a little bit and then he went on a bit too long got teed up but ultimately in the third quarter the Thunder do what they do even though Lorie Markin had a hot streak in the first half and he was a tough cover and even for this Thunder defense it’s kind of the the fact that he puts you in an awkward spot of just do you want to uh have a bigger body on him? Do you want to in in the sense of Isaiah Hartenstein do you want to have Chad follow him around the perimeter? He was able to get going for 19 points on 50% shooting. But to the Thunder’s credit, they got things right. It was an 110 run in under two minutes for OKC in the third quarter to break this lead for Utah, get up by four points. They parlayed that into a 220 run in under five minutes and it cultivates in what was a 30-4 run at one point. OKC in that third quarter allowed just four points in the paint whenever the three started to cool off for Utah, which was inevitably going to happen because they were shooting way above their skis and they continued to mount the turnovers, forcing Utah into a season high in the giveaway column this season. The Thunder’s ability to flip a switch and go on these avalanche runs is out of this world. It’s in the same vein as those old Golden State Warriors team, just in a different fashion. They do it by forcing turnovers, getting out in transition, and playing defense. I said this very statement last November, which at the time looked crazy until they rattled off 68 wins and won a championship with that method. And now you’re seeing it again this season. So again, forcing Utah into a season high turnovers, which was demoralizing for the Jazz. And OKC just crushes your will in any given game. And that’s the big part about the Thunder. You know, anyone can get up for a big game like this. There’s NBA Cup implications. You’re playing the defending champs. You get up by 18 points and you feel good about yourself as a young team who’s been better than expected on the year already, who’s been flirting with that playin tournament. Get up by 18 points at home. Crowd’s rocking. It was easy to be engaged early in this game if you’re Utah. And these teams have given the Thunder the best punch possible in each and every game for the most part just as we expected this off season with the different level of intensity that champions face. And this is nothing new. The Thunder who are the kings of the zero and zero mentality, the kings of the one of 82 mindset. You look at how they played Boston last year in those two games and their actions speak louder than words. They were up for those games regardless of who was in and out of the lineup. They were up for those games. They made statements in those games and every team’s trying to make their statement against Oklahoma City. The problem, how are you going to sustain that? The Thunder force you to play at an unsustainable level. They force you to be perfect. The second you let your foot off the gas, the second you get sloppy with turnovers, the second you don’t capitalize on some open looks, it’s over for you. It’s over for you. The avalanche is here. the thunderstorm, whatever you want to call it, it’s here. And the Thunder going to go on a massive run. They’re going to turn the tide of the game. They’re going to blow you out and run you out of the gym. I I think that if you told anybody in that first quarter with how Utah shot the ball, that the Thunder would not only come back to win, but they’d win convincingly, they’d put the game away in the third quarter, and Sheay once again wouldn’t have to play the fourth, they’d call you crazy. Like, yes, we’ve seen basketball be a game of rounds, and we’ve seen that, especially in the modern NBA. 18-point leads are are hardly anything. A 18-point leads is the new 10-point lead in the modern NBA. But to win 144 to 112 after all of that is special. To put into context how great Utah was in the first quarter. When we’re talking about that third quarter avalanche, when we’re talking about the Thunder course correcting defensively, the Jazz still shot 48% from the floor, 42% from three, and 83% at the free throw line. And yet they got blown smooth out. The Jazz win the rebounding column, but the Thunder have 36 assists with some great ball movement. They dominate the turnover column, forcing Utah into a season high 27 turn turnovers and only giving it up 13 times. And the Thunder, despite the slow start, turn things around and actually lap the Jazz in the shooting categories. 61% from the floor, 62% from three, and then 76% at the free throw line. The Thunder continue to control the paint in every single game. what’s been a year-long trajectory. 50 points in the paint for OKC compared to 34 for Utah. The Thunderly lose second chance points 8-6. And the Thunder dominate fast break points 15-1. Like this was a game of all games for OKC. This was a tale of two halves to be certain. And the Thunder just feels so inevitable. And this was a big win for Oklahoma City. And I know that if you’re waking up this morning and you’re reading the paper, if anyone still does that, and checking the box scores for the information, and you see, okay, the Thunder one convincingly, 14412, that’s exactly what I what I thought would happen. Like, yeah, that is what you thought happened, but the fashion of which it happened was so marvelous and unbelievable and jaw-dropping. And this team continues to be uncommon. This team continues to be historic. This team continues to be inevitable. They’re 16- one right now. And now they get to finally collect themselves for a long home stand that starts on Sunday against Portland trying to avenge that only loss on the year. Couple off days. Then you finish up NBA Cup play on the pool play side of things with Minnesota and Phoenix after Monday and Tuesday off. And of course, Thursday Thanksgiving off for everybody in the NBA. So, they finally get a long home stand both in days and games. And they’ve set themselves up pretty both to control their own destiny the rest of the way in the NBA Cup and to be 16-1 on the season. Coming up, let’s dive into how this happened. How did the Thunder pull this off? All coming up. 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And this Thunder team continues to impress lead led by SGA, the reigning MVP. And man, he got downhill and figured out ways to hunt mismatches from Kevin Love getting him on switches in the second quarter to get Kevin Love in foul trouble early. Uh at one point, Kevin Love love had 4 fouls and four threes in that first half. Uh he nailed his first three of three in the second quarter. His footwork to euroep around defenders and get fouls on the back end of the play is critical. like he he is able to force you to foul him and we’ve seen him do this so often and the way that he is able to get you behind him or get you off of him forces you to foul and you can see it in the play with Cody Williams as well where that step back and that handle creates a separation to where Cody has to close out way too fast way too hard and gets into Shay’s landing space and that’s two free throws for SGA because the alternative is well you got at me on that move. Just kind of let him shoot a wide open shot. And you don’t want to do that either. So, you’re in a position where you’re danged if you do, danged if you don’t. But, I think that Shay’s done a good job of playing even more uh, you know, wise, but also faster a little bit when attacking mismatches. Like, he’s able to attack Kevin Love. He’s able to to spot Mai Lucan on him and get downhill uh, and get an easy bucket to demoralize the Jazz. And you’ve seen him do this uh playing at a faster tempo when he gets the right matchup and just attacking them. Attacking Kevin Loves fee in this game. We’ve seen it with Nick Clifford last game with Cedric Coward against Memphis in the fourth quarter with Reed Shepard in the season opener. He’s able to spot those mismatches to a great degree and attack them relentlessly uh all throughout the contest. And he’s done that throughout his career. He’s done that at a very high clip to start this season. But the most important part of his game tonight was the three for three. The fact that Sheay is able to come down the floor, stop on a dime, and pop pop a contested three off the dribble and nail it like he’s that comfortable in that shot now where he’s shooting over 40% from three over the last seven games. If this is real, if this is who he is now from three, it changes everything. It really does. This is a Thunder offense that even with Chay last year in the half court really stalled out in the postseason. This is a Thunder offense that last year went from the sixth best three-point shooting team in the regular season percentage-wise to 13th out of 16 in the playoff field. And if he’s someone who can generate those threes, you once again get put in a bad spot if you’re the defense. You either don’t respect him and still try to pick him up around the nail, pick him up around the elbow, kind of gear up for a drive and and try to stop him in the mid-range and let him shoot from three. And if he can knock him down at a high clip at 40%, that’s a bad move if you’re the defense. Or you adjust to him, pick him up at the three-point line, play too far up on him, and let him get to his better spots at the mid-range and at the rim. Even easier. the attention that he’s going to force from teams will be at a higher level this year in the postseason, which is unbelievable because it was at such a high level last year, but it’ll be even higher if he can shoot the three. And we spent all summer talking about that. The month of November has played out in that exact way for SGA. He goes three for three from three tonight. And sitting out that fourth quarter only playing 30 minutes and nine seconds in this game just shows you how crazy the Thunder are. shows you how inevitable the Thunder are. 31 points, two rebounds, eight assists, one steal, one block, 64% from the floor, 10 for 12 at the free throw line, and plus 14, which is plus 14 is a great number considering he was on the floor the entire first quarter when the Jazz had that hot start when the Jazz were were growing up their 18-point lead. Jay Will deserves a lot of credit, man. Especially in a game in which, you know, it starts out when he has a bad drive off the catch and it leads to a charge. He misses a fast break, finish at the rim, which AJ should have honestly kept because it put Jel in a tough spot. He did not have the angle to finish that two-on-one fast break. But he then makes three triples in the first half alone and has that three-point falling. He throws a lot of the Chad Homegrren. He dives on the floor for a loose ball. He ends up with five threes, the last of which touched every part of the rim, every part of the backboard, including the top of it, and then fell in for him. And he did that on that play, which like the the shooters roll gets all the attention from it. But that play was really great from OKC standpoint because it’s Jill who’s at the rim getting that second chance opportunity and kicking it out. And after he kicks it out, Jel relocates to the to the slot for a three, which is a play in which with a 14-second shot clock reset, five guys touch the floor, that ball movement finds its way back to Jwell to launch the three and it goes in. But he creates that with the rebound. He dove into the second row in a blowout game and came up smiling, which just embodies everything about Jell. He’s really willing to do do anything to help the team and he’s going to smile while doing it. 15 points in this game, six rebounds, six assists, flirting with that triple double, two steals, five for seven from three for Jay Will. He deserved a night like this. He’s been a guy who has gotten the eye of a lot of people to start this season. But this is why you let him keep shooting because he can have a five for seven night and this could parlay into something where he breaks out of this cold streak and gets back to who he was as a shooter. And if he’s going to compete on the glass like he did tonight, he’s going to compete diving for loose balls like he did tonight, then everything else will fall into place. Especially if that three starts to fall. Speaking of threes falling, Lou Dort also started the season ice ice cold from three. And we kept telling you on this show, just just give him time. He’s a streaky three-point shooter. He’s a proven shooter. last two years at 40%. And in the third quarter, nobody was bigger than Lou. You don’t win this game without Lou turning this game on a on a dime. Three for four from three. Third straight game with three or more triples. Didn’t take a shot inside the ark. Swung the entire third quarter with the damage he did. His relentless competitive spirit and timely jumpers are paramount to this team’s success, including the game-tying shot in the third quarter and then coming back on the floor the next possession and giving them the giving them the lead. That’s how big those threes were from Lou Dorton. And that’s how much this team trusts him. They trust him no matter what’s going on in the game to help them get through tough spells. I thought that Tread Homegrren was better than his box score shows. It was obviously not a great box score from him. And honestly, if you just look at the box score, probably one of his worst games from a box scores perspective cuz he only shot 35% from the floor. He went 0 for four from three, only musters 11 points whenever he’s been on a 20point streak, a block, two steals, two assists, three rebounds. However, I liked what he did in this game, getting into the paint, turning around, hitting that mid-range jumper to start things out, cutting, catching lobs, getting easy buckets at the rim. He read the floor very well, made the extra pass after drawing the defensive attention, which if he can continue to get that gravity up because of how much he’s impacting a game, then that behind the back pass to Dallas Caruso for three, which was a nice pass from him, like that’s going to be there. I I love the fact that he’s going up stronger and more aggressive at the rim with a purpose and that’s leading to more free throws for him. And in this game, he explored a lot of stuff like he tried a jump stop floater that looked like iHeart, but it was actually Chet who took the shot. And if he can learn to touch on that shot, that’s another unique way for him to score. He forced the issue at the rim, attacking a one on five fast break, which is pretty crazy. And uh he he also tried to uh you know, finish around three defenders later on in this game as well. But that’s the aggression level that you want from Chad. Now you’ve got to body that into the right energy, which more often than not this year it has been correct. But this was a game that that you know he was clearly setting out to even be more aggressive. Ends up with a messy box score in the sense of efficiency, in the sense of points, but you like the creativity and the improvisation. This has been someone who has been more willing to play off script this year than in years past. Like trying that floater, trying uh to attack downhill in the fast break and not just looking to back it out and reset the offensive possession. He’s been willing to improvise more and with his skill set, with his talent level, that improvisation will pay dividends in the future for OKC. Really great start to the year for him. I thought a better game than his box score showed, more impactful game than even his box score showed. And the Thunder get this win with him. But Alex Caruso, Alex Caruso continues to change the tone and teners of games. We’ll talk about him coming up, but first want to tell you right now, my good friends over at Prize Picks, folks, go check out Prize Picks today because they’re awesome and you and I make decisions every single day. But with Prize Pick being right, get you paid. Don’t miss out on the excitement of sports this season, whether you’re following the NFL, NBA, or both, there’s no better time to jump in on the action than right now. If you haven’t tried it yet, prize picks is the simplest way to play. You just pick more or less on at least two player stats and if you get them right, you win. 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So use code locked on NBA, you get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. So again, just by using code locked in NBA, you get 50 bucks in lineups after your first $5 lineup. Win or lose, prize picks. It’s good to be right. We’re back on the Lockdown Thunder podcast on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your teams every day. We talked about the Thunder and their sluggish start to this game. Alex Caruso in his first 10 minutes of action was a plus 13 because he he changes the tone and tenor of games with his infectious intensity and energy. You can’t help but match him if you’re on his team and watching what he does and how he competes defensively, watching how he tries to make every single break go his team’s way. watching as he cuts to the rim and and scores through traffic and contact. Watching as he knocks down his open looks, capping off threes like that behind the back pass from Chad Homegrren. He ends up with 11 points, three assists, a steal, two for three from three, going perfect inside the arc, and he only has to play 18 minutes. And folks, I say this very lovingly, Alex Caruso feels like an energygiving mercenary. This is someone who the Thunder obviously for two straight years now want to be very cautious with in the regular season. You want to ensure for a guy who’s had some bumps and bruises in his NBA career. You kind of almost bubble wrap him in the regular season to ensure he’s there for you come April, come the playoffs. And it only took 18 minutes to get this thing right for Caruso to erase this 18-point deficit. And then to go to the bench and watch the fruits of his labor and watch a game he turned around. It was a very impactful 18 minutes. It got the job done and he kept his minutes low. Caruso completely changes games. Continues to do so. I think that we’re seeing AJ Mitchell grow up right before our eyes. He’s growing in confidence. You can see that in him talking to officials, him attacking downhill against the trees, him setting the table for the offense and being poised with the ball. The thing that will get better for AJ is picking his spots. I think of like when to be a table setter versus when to be quote unquote selfish. Like the unselfish pass to Jay what we talked about earlier. I think that that comes from like hey you know what AJ Yeah. You know you sometimes you do need to go coast to coast even if you have a teammate with you in a two-on-one fast break. And he’s going to learn that. He’s going to pick that up and he’s going to be awesome for it. He had a better angle on that shot than Jaywell did and it would have led to at least a foul if not an and one if not just two easy points. You know, I thought that, you know, Cadet driving to the lane, couldn’t get the corner on Lori, uh, and Cadet finding IHart for the finish in the dunker spot was was great. Going back to Cadet, but with AJ, he had a huge three to go up 10 for the Thunder on a catch-and shoot transition chance. He ends up going two for three from three in this game. I’ve been telling you that his three-point shot is going to come around for him. I still believe that he goes two for three tonight. 40% from the floor overall, 12 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. One of those steals ends up going coast to coast to cap off a 30-2 run at the time for OKC and grow that 20point lead at the time for OKC after being down five in the third quarter. Like, this was crazy. He had some great entry passes to iHeart for easy two points. He threw a lob uh in this game as well. It was just great to see all that AJ Mitchell was able to do. Kase Wallace, we’ve called him the ultimate play finisher. He lived up to that name today. Two for four from three, 66% from the floor, a perfect two for two inside the arc for 10 points, a rebound, and four steals. He’s a no-fly zone. I don’t know how you pass the ball around him. I don’t know how you pass the ball on his side of the court, and you certainly cannot dribble against him in isolation. It leads to a lot of settling for threes and a lot of jumpers, which, oh yeah, by the way, he’s one of the best jump shot blockers in the NBA. Like, man, he is just a defensive menace. And you also saw him flash some more uh off the dribble getting to the rim, bouncing off a body in the third quarter uh to keep them within striking distance. Again, keeping that third quarter lead from Utah down to about six points at the time with that scoop finish in traffic. I thought that was great from Kase. He made good plays tonight. Isaiah Joe, he was everywhere. He stabilized this team in the in the first quarter, matching the Jazz from three. The only guy really, it felt like, who could hit threes in that opening frame. ends up tallying four for five from distance, gets 16 points and three assists, but he was also key to keep that point differential up in the fourth quarter on a crazy night that he needed it and we saw a crazy finish around Western Conference Group A play. Drew a charge, got a foul whenever he’s trying to set set a screen offensively. Like he was everywhere tonight. Isaiah Hartinstein, he flirts with a triple double. 12 points, six boards, seven assists, a steal, five for five, shooting from the floor, touching the game at every instant. He set up Ludor on a cut to the rim. Ludor doesn’t love it. Goes back to iHeart. IHeart finishes it with a lefty floater. And those push shots are just so great for iHeart. It continues to fall for him in a very, very high clip. This was a fun game for OKC. This was a fun win for OKC. and the fashion of which it happened. Again, the final score not indicative of just how much the Thunder had to fight to get this one. It was fun. And now OKC controls their own destiny in the NBA Cup. They sit right now in the group A standings on top of them at 2-0 with a plus 63 point differential which is which is the tiebreaker for the group play standings and for the wild card spot the lone one that you have per conference to get to the knockout stage. So the plus 63 point differential is big. The Suns are 2-0 with a plus 23 point differential after a Colin Gillespie buzzer beater to beat the Timberwolves who are 2-1 with a plus 53 point differential. The Kings were idle tonight, but they were 0 and they are 0 and2 in the NBA Cup standings with a minus 45 point differential. The Jazz fall to 0 and3 with a minus 94 point differential, eliminating them from contention. But the Thunder now control their own destiny. They play Minnesota and Phoenix at home this week to end group play on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, inside the Paycom Center. You win those two games, you’re for sure in. you at least only lose one of them and lose one of them narrowly, then you’re still in to the knockout round for all intents and purposes. But a wild night for Colin Gillespie to make that comeback over Minnesota and hit that game winner. Wild night for OKC to not only make the comeback and sneak away with a win after the uh Jazz redot start, but to blow them out, it was a double whammy tonight for OKC. So, the Thunder control their own destiny in the sense of heading to the knockout round and putting themselves in great position for a favorable draw. This has been very fun to follow along with for the Thunder at 16-1 now at top the NBA yet again. A tale of two halves tonight and a wild night for the NBA Cup. Let me know what you thought down below on YouTube. Follow me on Twitter at Ryland Styles. This is Lockdown Thunder, your team’s Everyday, a part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcasting network in the world. You everydayers make that happen. Thank you for listening every day because we’re here for you Monday through Friday. Plus, after every single game, including today’s bonus show after this Jazz game on Friday night, we also have four live streams for you throughout the week, Monday and Thursday at 2:00 p.m. Central time with Derek Parker. And we have Tuesday and Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Central time with Jeremy Lamb and Tyler Jones and our Lockdown Thunder squad show. So, it’s been great to hear from Jeremy Lamb and his thoughts on this Thunder team and the insights that he can provide as a former player. Plenty for you to catch up on on this feed alone from this week. And there’ll be plenty more content for you coming up, including after Sunday’s game against the Portland Trailblazers as a Thunder try to re get revenge for their lone loss on the year, which was a game in which uh the second half of backto-back in Portland where they blew a big lead, 20-point lead for OKC. But it was explainable because of how just gassed they were at that part of their schedule, three games and four nights and the travel back to back. But nonetheless, the Thunder 16-1, Portland up next. We have it all for you here on Locked on Thunder. Subscribe on YouTube. Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts from. And folks, until next time, be good and be good to one another.

Oklahoma City Thunder crush Utah Jazz with a jaw-dropping 144-112 comeback, fueled by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s dominant 31-point night and a third quarter avalanche reminiscent of the Warriors’ best runs. Can this historic squad maintain their undefeated streak and claim the NBA Cup? Rylan Stiles dissects the Thunder’s overwhelming performance: SGA’s unstoppable three-point shooting, Jaylin Williams’ relentless hustle, and Lou Dort’s clutch baskets that flipped the game. The episode spotlights pivotal defensive runs, standout playmaking from Isaiah Joe and Alex Caruso, and OKC’s control of the paint and pace. With playoff-level intensity, lineup rotations, and the team’s resiliency under pressure, the Thunder now control their NBA Cup destiny. Up next—can OKC avenge their only loss against the Portland Trail Blazers and keep the momentum alive? Don’t miss this high-energy breakdown of the Thunder’s path to greatness.

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You expect more from yourself. Expect more from your money. Get started today at robinhood.com/yourmoney. Your money. Your move.

All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Options, futures, and crypto trading carry significant risk and may not suit all investors. Securities offered through Robinhood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Futures trading is offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC and not SPIC or FDIC protected. Crypto offered through Robinhood Crypto, LLC (NMLS ID 1702840), not FDIC or SIPC protected. Portfolio management offered by Robinhood Strategies, an SEC-registered advisor.

Gametime
Today’s episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.

FanDuel
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FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

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