LDN - Sports

Hood returns, propels Jazz past Thunder

[December 15, 2016] SALT LAKE CITY -- After missing a pair of games with a hamstring strain, Rodney Hood worried about finding his offensive rhythm. It didn't take long for him and the Utah Jazz to get into a groove.

Hood scored 25 points and made five 3-pointers to lead the Jazz to a 109-89 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. He went to work rolling over the Thunder's perimeter defense right from the opening minute.

Two of Utah's first four baskets from the field were Hood 3-pointers. Like a master carpenter working on a new home, he hammered away at Oklahoma City until he drove multiple nails through the Thunder's defense.

"I was off about six, seven days," Hood said. "I was glad to just come out and play in flow and take good shots, and I got going a little bit."

The other Jazz players followed Hood's lead in torching the Thunder from the perimeter. Shelvin Mack and Joe Ingles both shot 3 of 3 from outside. As a team, Utah shot 13 of 23 from 3-point range and hit 58.3 percent from the field overall.

It helped the Jazz (16-10) take a quick lead and never trail from start to finish.

"I thought the difference was our 3-point defense probably wasn't where it needed to be," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "I thought they made a couple of tough shots early, give them credit, but there's a couple of breakdowns we had and gave them some open threes."

Gordon Hayward added 17 points, and Mack chipped in 15 points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench for the Jazz. Rudy Gobert notched his 16th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Russell Westbrook tallied 27 points, six rebounds and five assists for Oklahoma City. He also committed five turnovers. Enes Kanter added 19 points off the bench for the Thunder.

Oklahoma City (15-11) lost for the third time in four games. The Thunder shot 36.6 percent from the field.

Westbrook did not finish with a triple-double for the second straight game after hitting double digits in points, rebounds and assists for seven consecutive games. He bristled at the idea of people expecting that sort of stat line from him in every game.

"People think if I don't get it, it's like a big thing," Westbrook said. "When I do get it, it's a thing. If you would just let me play and if I get it, I get it. If I don't, I don't. It is what it is. I really don't care, not for the hundredth time. I don't care. All I care about is winning, honestly. All the numbers (bleep) don't mean nothing."

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The Thunder ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run -- culminating in Semaj Christon's buzzer-beating 3-pointer from beyond half-court that cut the deficit to 26-21.

Utah kept a bigger spurt from materializing. The Jazz clamped down on defense early in the second quarter and heated up from the perimeter to keep Oklahoma City from mounting a serious threat during the remainder of the half. The Thunder shot just 28.6 percent from the field in the second quarter.

Hood scored a pair of 3-pointers and converted a three-point play over three straight possessions to cap a 11-0 run that gave the Jazz a 46-27 lead.

"When we execute defensively and offensively, it makes the game easy," Hood said. "We're very tough to beat."

Oklahoma City threatened the Jazz briefly in the third quarter. The Thunder ripped off a 9-1 run, culminating in a transition 3-pointer from Westbrook, and cut Utah's lead to 56-50.

Hayward and Hood steadied the Jazz with back-to-back baskets to halt the run. The Jazz eventually rebuilt a double-digit lead, going up 71-57 on Joe Johnson's teardrop jumper with 3:25 remaining in the third.

The Thunder could not close the gap during the fourth quarter.

"We defended really well today, except there at the beginning of the third (quarter), but other than that we executed our game plan really well," Hayward said. "Credit to the coaching staff and then credit to us for being disciplined for most of the game."

NOTES: F Victor Oladipo missed his second straight game with a right wrist sprain. Oladipo is Oklahoma City's second-leading scorer, averaging 16.1 points in 24 games this season. ... Utah F Derrick Favors returned to the lineup after missing 12 games with a left knee bone contusion. Favors did not start, but he came off the bench under a minutes restriction. He played 13 minutes and finished with four points and four rebounds. ... Jazz G Joe Ingles leads the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage at 50.8 percent after going 3 for 3 on Wednesday. He is 19 of 28 over his past eight games. ... Oklahoma City swept the season series with Utah 4-0 in 2015-16.

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