The Utah Jazz closed out their first-round NBA Playoffs series with a 96-91 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night in Salt Lake City. The Thunder covered the spread as 7-point underdogs, and the game went under the total of 207.
Utah advances to play the top-seeded Houston Rockets in the second round. Odds for the series and for Game 1 will be released soon by BetDSI Sportsbook. Expect Houston to be a hefty favorite.
Dueling big games
Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City and Donovan Mitchell of Utah each had huge games for their respective teams. Westbrook finished with 46 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, though he took a whopping 43 shots from the floor to get those points. Mitchell was much more efficient, scoring 38 points on 14-of-26 shooting.
Rudy Gobert added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz, Derrick Favors had 13 points and 8 rebounds and Joe Ingles had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Steven Adams helped out Oklahoma City’s cause with 19 points and 15 rebounds. But the Thunder had no other players in double-figure scoring and shot just 39.8 percent from the floor. Utah was slightly better at 45.7 percent.
OKC had its chances
Oklahoma City led for most of the first half, but the Jazz caught the Thunder in a 41-41 tie in a low-scoring first half. Utah then took control, leading by as many as 12 points on several occasions, the latest at 85-73 with 7:04 remaining.
Then the Thunder made its charge. A Raymond Felton 3-pointer and Adams layup cut the lead to 90-88 with 2:44 left, and Westbrook hit a 3-pointer to make it 92-91 with 1:28 remaining. But Favors answered with a jumper, and OKC then missed six shots on its next possession alone — getting the offensive rebound after each of the first five.
Four of those shots were potentially tying 3-pointers, but none would fall. Mitchell then put the game away with two free throws on the other end.
The big picture
The Jazz will play Game 1 of its series with the Rockets on Sunday in Houston. The winner of that seven-game series advances to the Western Conference Finals to take on either the Golden State Warriors or New Orleans Pelicans.
