Game Recap: Jazz/Thunder, April 27, 2018

It is admittedly unusual for us to recap a single game from a first round playoff series. Even elimination games, which are so ripe for assessment and criticism, both in the immediate aftermath and as time wears ceaselessly on heading into every other team’s offseason. Free agency beckons; fresh wounds heal, but the scars can inform decisions for players and teams, altering the direction of the entire league.

As such, the Utah Jazz’s prompt dispatch of the Oklahoma City Thunder in six games calls for some prompt discernment. Russell Westbrook is the center of the Thunder’s galaxy, and as such, he draws adulation and condemnation in equal measures. He deserves considerable amounts of both, to be certain, but context is vital. Collective blame is undoubtedly shared in Oklahoma City.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

You want to blame the Thunder’s failure to get out of the first round entirely on Russell Westbrook? Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

2-16.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Sure, Westbrook took 43 shots, which is patently absurd unless you’re Wilt Chamberlain in the early 1960s, but Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game[1]. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Carmelo Anthony had two total assists in the entire series, and they both came in Game 1. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

I’m not mad about the Thunder on the Internet; I’m disappointed about the Thunder on the Internet. Which is worse?

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Westbrook also went 7-19 from three, which is still above-average for him. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Anthony shot 21% from three and was a net -39 for the Jazz series. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Two-for-sixteen.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George is an unrestricted free agent this summer. Westbrook signed the largest contract extension in NBA history on Kevin Durant’s birthday last year. Anthony has a truly unconscionable amount of money sitting on the table in his player option; he has a no-trade clause anyway.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Dos-de-dieciseis.

Paul George[2] went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game. Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three[3], for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

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[1] Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

[2] Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.

[3] Paul George went 2-16, and 0-6 from three, for five points and had six turnovers in an elimination game.