Jazz at Thunder
Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are back on the court together but both have suddenly gone ice cold. The two stars will try to rediscover their shooting strokes when the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Utah Jazz on Friday. The Jazz showed their ability to slow down a strong offensive team in a 97-77 pasting of the Chicago Bulls on the road Wednesday and are getting strong interior defense from Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert.
Oklahoma City won four of five to get back to .500 but has since dropped two in a row by a combined 47 points. “We have a lot of room to grow and a lot of room to improve,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks told reporters. “We’re going to stay together and find ways to improve going into our next game.” Utah has won two straight and three of four on the road but suffered a 97-82 loss at the Thunder on Nov. 26 despite Durant and Westbrook sitting out the contest.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), FSN Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (13-23): Utah center Enes Kanter has missed the last three games with an ankle injury and is expected to sit out again Friday, opening the door for Gobert to continue seeing increased minutes. The 7-1 Frenchman has recorded a total of 18 blocks in the last four games while scoring in double figures in each of those contests. “We were clicking a little bit on the defensive end,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters after Gobert collected 11 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks on Wednesday. “… With (Gobert) and Favors out there, there’s a level of athleticism and length that is unique.”
ABOUT THE THUNDER (17-19): Durant went 25-of-41 from the field in his first two games back from an ankle injury but is 11-of-36 in two games since as Oklahoma City went winless on its two-game road trip. Westbrook joined his star partner with a combined 8-of-40 in the two games as the Thunder shot under 35 percent in each. “We just have to move on,” Durant told reporters after the 104-83 loss at Sacramento on Wednesday. “We struggled shooting the basketball. Our defense was great but we fouled them a little too much and put them on the free-throw line. Other than that our defense was good, we got good shots but we missed them.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thunder F Serge Ibaka blocked a season-high eight shots on Wednesday after combining for three in the previous four games.
2. Utah F Gordon Hayward is 1-of-12 from 3-point range over the last three games.
3. The home team has taken the last five in the series.