Oklahoma City Thunder: 5 keys to series vs. Jazz

After a tumultuous season, the Oklahoma City Thunder finally secured the fourth seed on the final day. Now they take on the Utah Jazz in the first round.

Like most of the teams in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder were not sure of their playoff seeding nor their opponent until the final day of the regular season. Now it is set in stone, and the Thunder have home-court advantage as they take on the Utah Jazz.

Many pundits believe that the Thunder were going to be potential contenders this season, especially after they added Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.

Unfortunately, the start of the season did not reflect the extra talent that had been brought into Oklahoma. The chemistry was all wrong. Russell Westbrook was trying to make sure that everyone got their correct amount of shots and the team was not winning.

Then the players meeting happened, Westbrook went back to being Beastbrook and the course of the season changed. In the final game of the year, he secured averaging a triple-double for the second straight season. Westbrook is now the only player to have achieved this feat twice.

Now, as a reward for their effort, the Thunder get to host the Jazz, who were probably the NBA’s hottest team in the last two months of the season. Here are five keys to the series for the Oklahoma City Thunder.