Paul George carries Thunder to a Game 1 victory: 3 takeaways

Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz got a rude introduction to the 2018 playoffs from the Thunder’s Big Three of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony.

The NBA season can feel like it truly begins in Game One of the playoffs, and if that was the case, Paul George is going to have a really good season if he keeps this up.

The star wing, acquired by the Thunder from the Pacers in a trade during the 2017 offseason, came up huge for his team in the first game of the series, setting a Thunder franchise record for 3-pointers made in a game, helping deliver a 116-108 victory.

The Jazz started the game with a string of makes, going on an 11-0 run as the Thunder offense couldn’t get rolling. Paul George was able to knock home a 3-pointer, kick-starting his team’s offense, and they finished the quarter with a 21-9 run that evened the score after the first quarter.

The Jazz offense continued to struggle to put the ball through the rim in the second quarter, and the Thunder capitalized by getting into transition opportunities following missed shots.

Paul George caught fire to close out the first half, and the Thunder were able to open up a six point behind his 20 points in 19 minutes.

The former Indiana Pacers star kept things rolling in the second half, continuing to find success from behind the 3-point line. George set a Thunder franchise record for made 3-pointers in a playoff game when he knocked down his sixth 3-point shot of the game, and there was still 20 minutes left before the end of regulation.

The Jazz had a brief scare with Donovan Mitchell, who had to head back to the locker room to receive an x-ray on his left foot, which came back negative. The rookie guard had a noticeable limp after he returned, but was able to negotiate his way back onto the court with Jazz head coach Quin Snyder. He made a quick impact, driving to the rim and finishing off glass with his right hand over Steven Adams. Adams countered Mitchell’s layup with an alley-oop dunk, and the lead was back up to 13 points with just under five minutes to go.

Coach Snyder pulled his starters with about two minutes to go, and while Alec Burks was able to make the Thunder fans nervous in the final seconds with a couple 3-pointers, the Thunder were ultimately able to pull out a win.

Takeaways

Playoff P showed up. Seems like the Jazz finally got to meet “Playoff P.”

When the Thunder needed a big play to kick things off in the first quarter, George was there for Oklahoma City. When they needed someone to step up with the reserves and keep their momentum going, George was there. When they needed someone to keep the pressure on Utah after halftime adjustments, George was there. When they needed someone to close things out down the stretch, George was there.

Utah didn’t have an answer for George’s outside shooting. He was able to rise up over Joe Ingles and Jae Crowder, and took advantage of his ability to turn contested shots into uncontested shots. While he and Ingles were especially vocal throughout the game, George showed that the guy that was able to go toe-to-toe with LeBron James a few years ago can still bring it when the games really matter.

The Jazz need Derrick Favors to be better on defense when Rudy Gobert sits. The Jazz jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter, with the Thunder able to get in rhythm on offense with the big man deterring any ventures into the paint. But Oklahoma City was able to get back and tie the score at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 21-9 run, with the majority of that run coming with Gobert on the bench and Favors at center.

In the second half, when Gobert got into foul trouble, the Thunder were able to maintain their lead, and the fear of going to the rim against the Jazz defense was gone. Favors had just seven points and five rebounds, but was a minus-12 in a game the Jazz lost by double digits. They just flat out need him to make more of an impact if they want to advance to the second round.

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If Donovan Mitchell is limited, this won’t be a long series. Mitchell had 27 points for Utah, going 11-for-22 in the game with 10 rebounds and three assists. When he wasn’t on the floor, as has been the case for most of the season, the Jazz offense struggled to score efficiently. The biggest problem with the Jazz’s offensive inefficiency was that the Thunder were able to get into transition, creating mismatches or shot attempts where the Jazz defense wasn’t able to contest shots as closely as they’d like to.

The Jazz may consider inserting Alec Burks into their bench rotation, because while he didn’t earn minutes during the regular season, they may not have to worry about his defense against the Thunder’s reserve guards. They could really use his offense though, with his ability to get into the paint and knock down the occasional perimeter jumper.

Dante Exum played well at times for Utah, but he’s more of a defensive guard than an offensive threat for the Jazz. Exum had 10 points on five shot attempts, but it’s going to be tough sledding for him to have to check Russell Westbrook as the Jazz rotate through defenders on the former MVP.

They’re entire team should be proud of the effort they had for the entire game, and it is just the first game in the series. It’s not a series until a team wins a game on the road, and the Jazz will have a chance to do that in Game 2.