Thunder Can Clinch Season Series With Win Against Utah

Coming off a slump-busting win against San Antonio, the Thunder is set to face the Utah Jazz for the final time this regular season. Tipoff at Chesapeake Energy Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT on Saturday.

A win against the Jazz would give Oklahoma City a 3-1 victory in the season series and could factor as a tiebreaker should the two end up with the same record.

It’s been 11 days since the last meeting, a game the Thunder won 109-106 but not before Utah stormed back from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit and nearly stole a victory in OKC. Down four, Russell Westbrook hit a three with 38 seconds left, then got the rebound off a Gordon Hayward miss and made a 100-miles-per-hour layup on the other end to clinch the win.

Westbrook finished that game with 43 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, his 30th triple double of the season. In the three matchups versus Utah this season, Westbrook is averaging 36.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists and shooting 52.4 percent from deep.

The Jazz has leapfrogged the Clippers for the fourth spot in the Western Conference and is riding a four-game winning streak. But, Utah’s schedule is about to get a lot tougher with five of the next six games on the road.

Oklahoma City sits tied with Memphis for sixth and is three games behind the Clippers for fifth.