The Northwest’s top team will be at home when the Oklahoma City Thunder (49-22) welcome the division rival Utah Jazz (35-36) to Chesapeake Energy Arena. Action begins at 8:00 pm ET on Thursday, Mar. 24 and can be seen on RT and FxK.
The Thunder enter this game hoping for similar success after topping the Rockets 111-107 on Tuesday. Oklahoma City was lifted by Russell Westbrook, who finished with 21 points, 15 assists, and 13 rebounds. This gave him his 15th triple-double of the year. The Jazz, meanwhile, are coming off an 89-87 win against that same Rockets squad on Wednesday. Gordon Hayward led the team in scoring by registering 22 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
The Thunder have emerged victorious in all three games against the Jazz this year, including a 104-98 win the last time these two teams met. In the victory, Kevin Durant led all scorers on the team with 31 points.
Notes
In its last game, Utah won by a margin of two points. Oklahoma City is 7-5 in games decided by three points or less. Utah has a 6-6 record in close games.
When allowing fewer than 100 points, the Jazz are 32-12 on the season. When the Thunder score fewer than 100, they are a subpar 3-11.
The Utah Jazz have an abysmal 3-24 record in games where they have allowed at least 100 points. The Oklahoma City Thunder are 46-11 when they hit the century mark.
The Jazz have an offensive rating of 103.7 (ranked 16th), while the Thunder rank 12th for their defensive rating of 103.4.
Oklahoma City has an average field goal percentage of 47.6% (ranked third). Utah is an underachieving 4-16 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Oklahoma City Thunder average 23.0 three point attempts per game, while the Utah Jazz attempt 23.0. When attempting 25 or more three pointers in a game, Oklahoma City has a winning record of 17-8, while Utah is an even 15-15.
Oklahoma City has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.49 this season (ranked 23rd), while Utah ranks lower at 28th with an A/TO of 1.32.
The Thunder earn a league-high 48.5 rebounds per game, while the Jazz rank 18th with 43.2 per game.
The Utah Jazz are one of the best offensive rebounding teams, currently ranked ninth for the season. The Oklahoma City Thunder rank near the very top of the league (third) in defensive rebounding.
On average, the Jazz force a turnover rate of 14.3%. When the Thunder turn over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a solid 30-13 record.
