Thunder vs Jazz: Series Outlook

Oklahoma City heads into Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Jazz on Thursday night, meeting for the second time out of four matchups on the season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to take on the Utah Jazz in their home court on Thursday night, marking the second matchup of the season for the Northwest divisional foes.

Currently, Oklahoma City sits second in the Western Conference as Utah has steadily improved to ninth.

The Jazz are 13-3 in their last 16 outings, rolling on a six-game winning streak with Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen leading the charge. 

Another strong contributor for Utah has been rookie Keyonte George, becoming a vital part of their bench rotation as a playmaker and multi-faceted scorer.

For Oklahoma City, the Thunder enters Thursday night coming off two consecutive losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and L.A. Clippers – making it just the fourth time this season they've dropped two games in a row. 

Against two talented and fairly opposite teams, Oklahoma City's scoring power wasn't quite enough to offset neither the Clippers' nor the Lakers' offensive production – as Jalen Williams led in scoring with 25 points in each game. 

When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn't fully in his flow and dropping 30-plus, it seemingly drops the Thunder's chances of winning quite largely.

When Gilgeous-Alexander has been the team-high scorer, Oklahoma City holds a 26-8 record – whereas the team possesses a 1-5 record when he doesn't lead the team in scoring.  

Gilgeous-Alexander needs to have one of his MVP-caliber nights versus this red-hot Jazz team, and he very well could.

In his last 10 performances against Utah, he's averaged 29.8 points on 56.5% shooting paired with 6.1 assists and nearly a steal per game. 

As these two teams enter their second meeting on the season, the Thunder holds a four-game win streak in this matchup – only coming after a long, eight-game win streak from the Jazz stemming from the 2020-21 season.

Oklahoma City has yet to drop three contests straight this year, but the Jazz are coming into solid form as we near the back half of the season – Thursday night will be an intriguing and competitive game to watch as both teams come in relatively refreshed.

And, more than likely, it won't be a 14-point win like Oklahoma City executed in the two teams' first meeting back in early December inside Paycom Center. A highly competitive game should be anticipated, though it's difficult to see the Thunder dropping three games consecutively. 

Pending any injury issues, this matchup will be one to highlight for the Thunder down the line. Possibly matching up in the playoffs and with their remaining two meetings, Oklahoma City and Utah will become well acquainted with one another by the end of the season.

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