

Broadcast Information

Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. CT

7:00 p.m. CT Television: Fox Sports Oklahoma

Fox Sports Oklahoma Radio: WWLS the Sports Animal and the Thunder Radio Network

It will for sure be a big game between the Thunder and its Northwest Division rivals, the Utah Jazz, tonight at Chesapeake Energy Arena, but if the team views it as anything more than another opportunity to make progress as a unit, it could falter.

That’s why as the Thunder prepares to play its fourth straight home game before shipping out for three games in four nights on a tough westerly swing, it wants to stay true to its core principles. For starters, that’s getting back in transition on defense, playing on a string to force misses and get rebounds, then to push the tempo and get out into the open floor to attack the rim or kick out for threes.

“Playing with a good pace, playing our game and keeping the pace high,” point guard Russell Westbrook prescribed. “Our job is to make sure we continue to push the pace.”

“Our identity is to attack the paint every time and play a physical game,” center Enes Kanter said. “Every game we shouldn’t worry about them or anybody else. The only we can do is worry about us and go out there and play our basketball.”

At 34-25 the Thunder is now nine games over .500 with 23 games left to play. 11 of those games come at home and 12 on the road, but the Thunder has a chance to not just solidify its playoff position but even to move up the playoff ladder. Given the roster changes in the offseason and at the trade deadline, along with multiple injuries to key players like Kanter and Victor Oladipo, Head Coach Billy Donovan has led this Thunder squad through it all.

“He’s done an exceptional job. This year coming in with a new group of guys and a new team, putting us in a position to be successful,” Westbrook explained. “He does a great job in behind the scenes stuff that doesn’t get noticed, how he conducts himself as a coach. He’s a guy who leads our team and does an amazing job.”

Northwest Division battle in OKC tonight! #ThunderUp A post shared by Oklahoma City Thunder (@okcthunder) on Feb 28, 2017 at 11:32am PST

One of the areas that Donovan has really emphasized during his time in Oklahoma City has been utilizing the big men as movers of the basketball. With Westbrook attacking both sides of the floor off screens up top, he’s been able to find his big men rolling into the lane. When stopped short by help defenders, Steven Adams, Kanter and Domas Sabonis have done a nice job of swinging the ball to the far corner, for open threes and to keep the defense moving.

“It’s great to see they’re reading and reacting, watching film and seeing what teams are doing. Those guys are such a huge impact on the offense. They roll very well to the basket. Other teams are seeing that and its opening up three-point shots for our guys.”

The results out in Utah were drastically different each time. The first game, with Rodney Hood in the lineup, wasn’t much of a contest, as the Jazz won going away. In the second meeting, Westbrook answered a Hayward three with a dagger of his own, dropping a mid-range jumper before the buzzer in a two-point win. Despite the place in the standings, just a three-game difference between fourth and seventh, and thus a division title, the Thunder is locked in on simply doing its best to execute on both ends for 48 minutes.

“Anytime you want to get positive results, you have to focus on the process and the things that are in front of you,” Donovan said. “Over 48 minutes, you better do enough of the right things to put yourself in a position to win the game.”

“It’s going to be more about, are we improving? Are we getting better? Are we becoming more cohesive with some of the changes on our team? Are we making progress each day? Are we playing more consistently for 48 minutes? If you do those things, the results take care of themselves,” Donovan concluded.