Oklahoma City was built this offseason around three All-Stars with the hopes of contending for the Western Conference crown.
The Utah Jazz started the year 18-26 without center Rudy Gobert. But Gobert returned and the Jazz rolled off 11 straight wins into Valentine’s Day with the
help of a surprise rookie of the year contender.
One more win and the Jazz will reach the second round for the second straight year. They’ll send the Thunder home with a second straight first-round exit —
despite Oklahoma City’s overhauled
Authentic Jason McCourty Jersey , star-studded roster.
After losing the first game on the road, Utah won decisively in each of the past three games, including a 17-point victory in Game 4 — a game the Thunder
called a must-win in Salt Lake City.
“It’s the playoffs, it’s gonna be war,” Utah point guard Ricky Rubio, who had a triple-double in Game 3, told the Salt Lake Tribune after Utah’s 113-96
victory in Game 4. “We know that it’s gonna be another war next game. We just
have to be tough but at the same time, mentally ready for that.”
Game 5 is set for 9:30 p.m. EST Wednesday at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell, who averaged 20 points per game during the regular season, has averaged 27.6 points during the past three games — taking
his play to another level to lead a balanced Jazz attack that has five players
averaging in double figures. Mitchell, who was the 13th overall pick in last
year’s draft, has scored 110 points through the first four games, the most by a
rookie in his first four games since Michael Jordan’s 117 in 1985, according to
nba.com.
“To be honest
Albert Wilson Jersey Elite , a lot of this is surreal. I’m just taking it game-by-game and not really getting caught up in the big picture,” Mitchell told
the Salt Lake City Tribune. “Just focusing on game-by-game. My teammates have
helped me out a lot as far as that goes. But we’re playing together.”
Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook picked up four fouls before halftime in Game 4 and was fined $10,000 for an altercation with Gobert late in
the game. Luckily for the Thunder, he was not suspended following his
altercation with the Utah center.
Westbrook’s foul trouble has hardly been the Thunder’s biggest issue.
Oklahoma City was inconsistent much of the year, but it has had to contend with shooting woes from offseason acquisition Carmelo Anthony, who has hit just
25 percent of his 3-pointers in the first four games of the playoffs.
“We gotta win, nothing to it,” Anthony said after the Game 4 loss. “We’ve just gotta win. We can sit here and say what we gotta do, or what we didn’t do
or what we did do, but it comes down to having the will to win that game
Wednesday and forcing a Game 6 back in Utah.”
Winning in Utah won’t to be easy, where the Jazz have won six straight. Oklahoma City has to get back to Salt Lake City first and stave off elimination.
But Utah hasn’t lost three straight games since Gobert’s return to the lineup in
mid-January.
“Every game’s been physical,” Gobert said to reporters. “We just got to watch the tape, see how much better we can get and get ready to play
basketball.”
The Chiefs have released one of their career sack leaders, Tamba Hali
Connor Williams Jersey Elite , and veteran stalwart of their secondary, Ron Parker, moves designed to help Kansas City get younger on defense and have
some financial freedom for the start of free agency.
The Chiefs parted ways with longtime linebacker Hali on Monday. The move was hardly a surprise given his decreased production.
Safety Parker, who had missed just one game over the past four seasons and provided some stability when Eric Berry was injured last season, also was
waived.
Hali was due a base salary of $5,750,000 this season with a salary cap hit of more than $9 million, and his release will only cost them about $1.7 million in
dead money. Parker's release saves about $5.3 million against the salary
cap.
"I thank the greatest fans in the world #ChiefsKingdom for 12 incredible years," Hali posted on Twitter. "I also want to thank the @Chiefs organization
for believing in me from the beginning. All the support during my career in
Kansas City has been overwhelming and KC will always be special to me."
The Chiefs were strapped for cash heading into the offseason, necessitating moves on several fronts. They've already voided the contract of linebacker
Derrick Johnson, their career tackles leader, to save about $8 million, and
released cornerback Darrelle Revis to save $4.5 million.
They'll save some more when the new league year begins Wednesday. That's when the trade of Alex Smith, which his salary cap number of $17 million
Cheap Customized Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys , to the Redskins for cornerback Kendall Fuller and a draft pick, becomes official. The Chiefs will
also save a bit of money when their trade of cornerback Marcus Peters to the
Rams for two more draft picks becomes official.
The Chiefs only rolled over about $2.6 million in salary cap space from last season, so freeing up space to address their leaky defense ??and perhaps help
new quarterback Patrick Mahomes II with some offensive weapons ??was of
paramount importance for new general manager Brett Veach.
"You look at every situation and every position group and if it makes sense from a structural standpoint, a schematic standpoint and also a cap standpoint,"
Veach said during last week's scouting combine in Indianapolis. "And it really
is just the schematic standpoint and the cap standpoint along with the age, and
if you get all those things pointing in the right direction, you go that
route."
Make no mistake: The Chiefs had aged considerably on defense the past couple of years, especially in the linebacker corps, where Johnson and Hali had been
the foundation for years.
Hali was the 20th overall pick in the 2006 draft out of Penn State, started every game as a rookie and never really looked back. He became a fan-favorite
and went to five consecutive Pro Bowls beginning with the 2011 season, when he
had 12 sacks and forced four fumbles.
He combined to add 20 more sacks over the next couple seasons, but the decline soon began for the 34-year-old pass rusher. He started just two of 16
games during the 2016 season, when knee pain caught up to him, and only appeared
in five games last season after beginning the year on the PUP list.
When asked in January what his plans were for the future
Martinas Rankin Jersey Texans , Hali acknowledged he was "leaning more toward" retirement but wanted to leave the door open to returning for another
season.
He has plenty of interests away from football, including a hip-hop recording company.
"Tamba has been a tremendous ambassador for our organization, both on and off the playing field," Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. "His incredible work ethic and
passion for the game helped make him one of the most successful pass rushers in
franchise history. Tamba will always be a part of the Chiefs family, and we
sincerely appreciate his contributions to the Chiefs and the Kansas City
community over the last 12 seasons."
The 30-year-old Parker should have plenty of suitors in free agency. He made 279 tackles, seven sacks and picked off nine passes after finally getting his
break with Kansas City.
"It was great playing in front of the fans in Arrowhead and with some of the best teammates," he said on Twitter. "Now it's time for me to move on. I look
forward to this new journey and chapter."
Parker's age combined with his cost for next season ultimately forced his release.
"It's kind of today's world in the NFL," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said during the combine, when asked about their desire to get younger. "Guys change teams
and move. We think we have some good young players and feel comfortable with
them."
.
