(Field Level Media) Paul George scored an efficient 31 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the visiting Utah Jazz 122-113 on Monday night.
It was the first meeting between the teams since last year’s Jazz playoff series win over Oklahoma City in the first round.
George was 8 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from 3-point range, scoring 17 of his points during the Thunder’s 42-point third quarter. Late in the third quarter, Utah’s Jae Crowder flipped over a pass in the direction of Donovan Mitchell.
But George was there by the time the ball arrived, picking off the pass and starting a rush the other way, which ended with George lobbing the ball to Jerami Grant for a thunderous dunk to put Oklahoma City up 92-67.
That play put the exclamation point on a 20-6 run in a third quarter when the Thunder scored their most points in a period since Nov.
Oklahoma City did it by forcing the Jazz into seven turnovers in the third, turning all but one of them into two points on the other end. After turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, the Thunder didn’t give the ball away in the third quarter, stretching what had been an 11-point lead at halftime to 24 after three quarters.
Russell Westbrook struggled offensively but still managed his third consecutive — and 110th career – triple-double. Westbrook finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He was just 4 of 18 from the floor, missing all five of his 3-point tries.
Dennis Schroder added 23 points off the bench and Steven Adams added 22 for the Thunder. Oklahoma City shot a season-high 39 free throws, making 28.
Utah put together a 19-4 run through the first six minutes-plus of the fourth but it wasn’t enough to get back in the game.
The Jazz were led by Mitchell’s 19 points.
The win was the 17th in the last 21 games for Oklahoma City. For Utah, it was the second consecutive loss after winning four of the previous five games.
