Utah Jazz: 3 takeaways from Game 6 vs. Thunder

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2. Russ wasn’t Westbrick

Russell Westbrook’s heroics have been well documented since Game 5. There is no Game 6 if the Thunder didn’t have Russell Westbrook, simple as that. Unfortunately for the Jazz, Westbrook’s torrid shooting continued into Game 6.

His 46 points, 10 rebounds and five assists are the numbers the reigning MVP finished with in Game 6. While that’s certainly an impressive stat line in and of itself, what’s more impressive is that Westbrook shot the deep ball well.

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Westbrook would finish the game shooting 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) from deep, which was certainly uncharacteristic, as he’s a career 31.1 percent shooter from 3 (on 3.5 attempts per game for his career, 4.5 per game in the postseason). The best part? It didn’t matter.

When Russell Westbrook did what he did in Game 5, the Jazz could have responded poorly in Game 6; especially with one of their key contributors in Rubio going down early. In Game 5, they had as good of a chance as a team gets in the postseason to close out a series — up 25 points in the third quarter, and on their opponent’s home court no less. Then Westbrook happened, and completely turned that narrative on its head.

Some NBA pundits viewed it as the spark the Thunder needed that could push this series to seven games. It would give the Thunder the chance to close out the series on their home court, on their terms. Except it didn’t happen.

In Game 6, the Jazz showed they weren’t about that Game 7 life. Mitchell was brilliant, and his performance shouldn’t be downplayed, but this was their best performance of the series start to finish, and they did it when it mattered most to counter Westbrook’s big night.

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