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The Thunder is in disarray. After everything clicking in Game 1, the Thunder stumbled in a close loss in game two followed by a runaway loss in game three. Can the Thunder pick themselves off? Read the Thunder vs Jazz Game 4 prediction.
Thunder vs Jazz Game 4
- When: April 23, 2018, 10:30 PM ET
- Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena
- Spread: Jazz -4
- Over/Under: 208
- More NBA Lines
Betting on the Jazz
The Jazz has successfully found a way to counter whatever tactical changes the Thunder has come up with in both Games 2 and 3.
Center Rudy Gobert has been at the center of all of this; the Jazz’ big man battered back attempts of Thunder players for driving the lanes and made it especially hard for Russell Westbrook to score points.
Knocking out Westbrook’s ability to drive in the paint has been critical for both Jazz wins.
Ricky Rubio, who was overlooked for whatever reason, is also causing the Thunder some major headaches. Rubio scored 26 points, grabbed 11 boards, and dished out 10 assists in Game 3.
Though it’s likely the Thunder will have more pressure on Rubio in Game 4, it’ll still be hard to win if they can’t shut him down. Rubio is averaging 20 points a game in this series, so the Jazz is probably counting on his continued success.
Game 4 is in Utah which gives the Jazz more of an edge to win. It’s going to be very loud in Vivint Smart Home Arena and the Jazz will take whatever advantage they can take in order to win and further themselves to a 3-1 series lead.
Rookie guard Donovan Mitchell has also been a force in this series and the player who the Jazz works through to set up their attack. Even Paul George recognized as much, “that’s because he had that wanting to be the best player on the floor mentality,” George said. “He’s worked and clawed his way to where he is now. He’s going to be special."
Betting on the Thunder
The Jazz are owning the Thunder, and OKC seems to be cool about it. In ESPN’s Royce Young’s words:
The Jazz are running OKC out of the arena. Just a beatdown now. And the Thunder look pretty content to let them.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) April 22, 2018
The bright side though, is that even if they split the wins they can jump ahead when they head out back to Oklahoma City.
However, the Thunder will have to have their best players laser-in on getting the job done because as it is they’re not.
Russell Westbrook is not playing at an MVP level. And, he’s hesitating against Rudy Gobert which translates into fewer shot attempts per game.
The fact is, Westbrook will have to force his way into Gobert’s face. If that means that he’s going to have a few balls swatted into the stands, it also means Gobert might get into foul trouble and, hopefully, open up some further chinks in the Jazz’ defense.
Steven Adams is also jittery and consequently, he’s gotten into foul trouble in the last two games. If Adams can’t stay away from making fouls, it’ll cause OKC some major problems because the Thunder does not have a backup center.
Lastly, Paul George needs to stay focused. He seems to be all over the place on defense and is making some mistakes that have turned into more than a handful of easy buckets.
It’s very important the Thunder knock down a road win. Otherwise, the series will be at 3-1 favoring the Jazz which is a big hole to crawl out of even if the series heads back to Oklahoma City.
Game Prediction: The Thunder is in a world of trouble because they’re not going to win tonight. The Jazz will win and leave the Thunder slogging all the way back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 behind a two-game Jazz lead.
