2018 PLAYOFFS: (4) Oklahoma City vs. (5) Utah

[Lamrock]

After a tumultuous season in which making the playoffs was not a certainty until the last couple days of the season, the Thunder end up getting home court in the first round anyway, with Russ even averaging a triple double again...

I really don't know what to expect from this series. The Jazz have been phenomenal in the second half of the season, but OKC has the more experienced roster, as well as home court advantage. Will Mitchell choke in the playoffs? Can OKC play defense without Roberson? Is Carmelo a liability? Lots of things to consider... I'll take the Thunder in 7 games

[Kevin]

PG was red hot last game, hope he carries it to the playoffs. Russ also looks determined and..... pissed. Thunder in 5. Beastbrook about to pull up.

[JaoSming]

Going Jazz in 5, smelling chemistry issues for Thunder

[[Q]]

Going Jazz in 5, smelling chemistry issues for Thunder

Jazz went on a roll late in the season. I think that carries over

[Brave Sir Rubin]

Thunder in 7. This should be the best series of the first round.

[Andrew]

I'm going to go with the Jazz in 7, which yes, means they clinch the series on the road. The Thunder have the talent to be competitive and go the distance, but I think chemistry issues and bad performances are going to strike at the worst possible time, allowing the Jazz to take the series without home court advantage.

[shadowgrin]

Thunder in 7. One disastrous game for Westbrook and George each (Melo is a disaster already in OKC) and one game where both of them play bad while Melo plays well.

[SoF'nAwesome]

i don't know enough about this utah jazz team and how they ended up being the #5 seed

[NovU]

Gobert factor. Steven Adams is good but Thunder frontcourt will be abused. Mitchell will have a great series.

Overrated OKC superstars will self destruct. Utha in tough 7.

[[Q]]

i don't know enough about this utah jazz team and how they ended up being the #5 seed

They went from a solid tenth in the west in Jan/Feb to basically third at the end of the season. Only 6 losses in Feb-Mar-Apr

[Dee4Three]

Gobert factor. Steven Adams is good but Thunder frontcourt will be abused. Mitchell will have a great series.

Overrated OKC superstars will self destruct. Utha in tough 7.

Disagree here, but we will see. I think Steven Adams wins this matchup, as overall I see him as a better player.

OKC in 6, but that Jazz team is tough.

[cavs4872]

This is the series to watch for me; usually I am hype for the first round, but this is the only series giving me that vibe. A lot of the matchups just aren't that fun, and Kawhi being out is disappointing... Jazz in 7.

[Lamrock]

Series fun fact: The last six, and eight of the last nine Western Conference 4 seeds have lost in the first round. While 2015 was a technicality (Memphis had home court but Portland was technically the 4 seed because they won their division), this anomaly is close to being statistically significant.. Of course, the one West 4 seed in the last nine years to advance was the Oklahoma City Thunder...

[NovU]

Lamrock. Here's the real fun fact: Thunder are actually the underdog and only reason people still favor them is because of big name star trio blinding them.

Seeding does not matter for this match up, their record is literally identical. And this is only because Gobert was injured for significant number of games. The Jazz team with healthy Gobert by all logic would have done much better than the Thunder.

Gobert belongs to league's top class in point differential in plus minus. In short, Jazz go from a shit team to an elite team when he logs minutes on the floor. And he's the real reason Jazz being the league's top defensive team this season. Only way the Thunder can neutralize Gobert in this series is with ref's help by getting him into the foul trouble.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvNfaFHEHOw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEy7JT-0FCk

Actual best player in this series is not Westy, Melo, or George but Gobert who is one of the best players in the league already.

[Dee4Three]

I'm not favoring them because of the big three, and I'm people.

As I said, I think Adams will have a big series and possibly outplay Gobert. I could be wrong, just what I believe.

I also think Westbrook will be relentless. No denying that Adams, Westbrook, George and Melo make a pretty great 4 when they are on. OKC in order to win have to have better shooting out of George and Melo, I'm expecting them to rise to the occasion.

I think the Brewer pick up will pay dividends, as they won't have to depend as much on Abrines/Ferguson on defense or in general.

[[Q]]

I think their climb from 10th to 3rd with gobert coming back from injury shows how good of a team they really are. Imagine what their record would have been if he had been healthy all year. I don't see the jazz losing unless you see George and/or melo dominating their matches in addition to Westbrook. And neither one gas really wowed me or blown me away this year. I dunno if I'd even want George on the Lakers at this point lol

[Phil89]

Andre Roberson would have been really handy to have against Donovan Mitchell in this series.

For me, Paul George is the key to this series. If he plays well I think OKC advance. We know Russ is going to bring it, but him alone won't get the job done (as we saw last season).

[NovU]

Unusual because Paul George has been a better playoffs performer than a regular season player. Perhaps he can up his gear in this series to make this series even more interesting.

It's almost an established fact that Carmelo is an awful player. He can still score but 40.4 FG% and .503 TS% along with 12.7 PER suggest you are way better off with a league average player.


One thing about the Jazz though is that the Jazz aren't really a good team without Gobert playing well so everything relies on Gobert little too much. On offense they need his efficiency and on defense they need him to be active 24/7. Steven Adams is a very very good player himself so this match up will be the one to keep the eyes on.

[Dee4Three]

Steven Adams is a very very good player himself so this match up will be the one to keep the eyes on.

Exactly.

[air gordon]

Actual best player in this series is not Westy, Melo, or George but Gobert who is one of the best players in the league already.

Gobert should be DPOY. really. i don't think okc has any big to take Gobert out of the lane. should be fun watching Adams trying to finish on Gobert

i like the matchups/strategy for this series. I wonder how the non shooting Rubio performs in a playoff series.. should favors play more (and destroy melo in the paint) or does snyder plug in crowder for more spacing/versatile defense. maybe we see George on Mitchell a lot.

[Dee4Three]

I personally like Anthony Davis for DPOY. Not only did he play 19 more season games, he averaged more Blocks, Steals and Rebounds per game. Per 36 they are about the same on Blocks and Boards, with Davis having a bigger edge on steals.

Both have great value on the respective teams, but I think Anthony Davis's defense gets overlooked because of his capabilities on the offensive end. While Gobert was first in the league in defensive rating and Davis was 8th, Davis literally was an elite defensive player while being an elite offensive player. Amazing what Davis was able to do on defense considering his usage on offense.

I also consider defensive rating kind of skewed, as Pau Gasol is tied in 8th with Anthony Davis....And Kyle Anderson and Dejounte Murray are ahead of him. Everybody knows those three are not at the same level as Anthony Davis defensively.

[NovU]

Looks like playoffs Paul George is showing up for the day. He carried 2nd quarter. You guys must watch this game, gonna be a good one.

[NovU]

I don't know how but Paul George in playoffs seems to play on another level.

Rubio, ugh. Mitchell is fearless for a rookie but focuses on hero ball little too much. Perhaps give Alec Burks more minutes? Ingles got destroyed.

[Jackie Kong]

Nice to see Simmons, Mitchell and Tatum all having stellar games!

[Lamrock]

I know he's been pretty injury prone over these last few years, but I'm not sure why Burks is completely out of the rotation. Not having someone else who can create his own shot when Mitchell sits or is struggling is a major weakness in the playoffs. Maybe they should have kept Rose or Joe Johnson...

Utah still has a good chance if they can contain Playoff P, and if Ingles gets his head out of his ass.