Salt Lake City, UT – Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 28 87 victory over the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena on Friday.
Kevin Durant added 19 points and Serge Ibaka contributed a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds as the Thunder won three of their last four games to wrap up a five-game road trip with a 3-2 record.
Utah had all five starters in double figures, including 20 points from Al Jefferson. Raja Bell and Gordon Hayward scored 13 points apiece for the Jazz, who have dropped three straight and five of their last six.
"They [Thunder] played well," said Bell. "They took the game to us. They were aggressive. We got stuck in one mode and were never able to transition into something else to see if it could get going."
Utah would pull ahead by two, 58-56, on a Jefferson jumper in the third quarter, but Oklahoma City would rip off a 16-4 run to give the Thunder a 72-62 lead with just over three minutes left.
The Thunder would finish the quarter leading 74-65.
The Jazz clawed their way back into the game, but another 7-0 spurt by the Thunder pressed the lead up to 85-73 with just over seven minutes to play.
Utah was unable to put a run together in the closing minutes as the Thunder ran away with the double-digit victory.
The Thunder turned the ball over seven times in the first frame as the Jazz took a 30-27 lead into the second quarter.
"We have always been a good bounce-back team after a loss," said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. "Tonight was a good indication of how we play. We didn't have a lot of things going for us early. We were turning the ball over, but we fought, we stuck together and we competed."
Utah grabbed a 40-36 lead midway through the second as C.J. Miles finished back-to-back alley-oop dunks around a Westbrook jumper, but Oklahoma City would score the next 10 points to jump out to a 46-40 advantage with 1:30 left in the half.
Westbrook scored 15 points in the first half, including a jumper from the wing that closed out the first half with the Thunder leading 49-44.
Game Notes
The Jazz will begin a back-to-back-to-back road stretch in Memphis on Sunday and finish with a rematch in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, which marks the Thunder's next game...The Thunder are now 12-5 on the road this season...Oklahoma City improved to 4-1 this season in games played after a loss...The Thunder were 4-of-20 from long range, while the Jazz were 3-of-9 from three-point range.
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