OKLAHOMA CITY — The two most pivotal players in the first-round series between Oklahoma City and Utah are the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook and the
Jazz’s Rudy Gobert.
That happens when one is perhaps the most athletic player in the league and regularly gets to the rim against virtually everyone and the other is the
7-foot-1 rim protector.
But Paul George and Donovan Mitchell are very important too
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In the Thunder’s 116-108 Game 1 win, George was mostly lights-out for Oklahoma City. He hit 8-of-11 from behind the 3-point line and scored 36 points
to help lift the Thunder.
Mitchell, one of the leading candidates for Rookie of the Year honors, scored 27 points in his playoff debut, going 11-of-22 from the floor.
Entering Wednesday night’s Game 2, both are hobbled.
While both George and Mitchell are officially listed as questionable, George with a hip contusion and Mitchell with a left foot contusion, there’s little
doubt they will both play even after they were both limited in practice
Tuesday.
The question is, though, how effective will either be after suffering their injuries Sunday.
Mitchell brushed off the injury after the game. He initially returned after suffering the injury but came out of the game for good about a minute later.
“I just stubbed my toe,” Mitchell said. “Nothing major.”
George was hurt driving on Gobert in the second quarter.
“I fell on my left side and from there is just got a little sore on me,” George said
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Thunder coach Billy Donovan said it would largely be up to George how much he was able to play.
“Paul’s a tough guy,” Donovan said. “Paul wants to be out there. We’re never going to put a player’s health at risk in any way. So, I think that’s probably
going to be a little bit more of his decision on how he’s feeling in terms of
the way he’s moving.”
In addition to Mitchell being ready to contribute, the Jazz also need Ricky Rubio to play under control if they are to head back home for Game 3 with a tied
series.
The seventh-year guard is making his first playoff appearance and went 5-of-18 from the field, finishing with 13 points.
“Well, some of them were good shots, some of them not,” Rubio told the Salt Lake Tribune. “Just have to do a better job on getting involved (with) some of
my teammates sometimes. Do a better job of knowing when to shoot and when to
pass the ball.”
For the Thunder, being able to deal with Utah’s tough, hard-nosed defense — keyed by Gobert — remains a major point of emphasis.
“I think the word ‘physicality’ gets used in a way that sometimes people think it’s just, like, guys banging into each other
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being screened. Some of it is running back in transition and being able to get
into spots where you can absorb drives. Some of it is, there’s a pick-and-roll
and someone’s rolling to the basket and being there to provide help.”
Last spring, after another crushing postseason loss, Capitals coach Barry Trotz flew
to Russia to meet with his best player.
Trotz spoke with Alex Ovechkin about his game and how it might be fine-tuned to prolong his career. They discussed the coming season and setting the tone in
training camp for a team getting younger and undergoing a roster overhaul.
There were bumps in the road, but the end result has seen a reinvigorated Ovechkin playing an instrumental role in getting Washington within reach of its
first Stanley Cup.
”You don’t want to be a one-trick pony in this league,” Trotz said. ”The league keeps changing on you.”
Ovechkin, whose Capitals faced the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the final Monday night, scored 49 times this season after just 33 goals in
2016-17.
”The one thing that Alex does better than anybody, maybe in the history of the game, is score goals
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the game. But we talked about finding other ways to be effective.”
The 32-year-old Ovechkin has done just that in pretty much every facet of his game.
”I try to do my best in the regular year, in the playoffs,” he said. ”Of course, in the playoffs, you don’t have tomorrow.”
Ovechkin has won the Richard Trophy seven times as the top goal scorer. He has 607 goals in 1,003 career regular-season games, 19th on the career list.
Another 49 next season would tie him with Brendan Shanahan for 13th.
”He has that ability to see past the block, see past the goalie,” Trotz said. ”Some of the better goal scorers in this league don’t see goalies, they just see
empty spots. Guys that aren’t goal scorers, they see the goalie.”
Trotz sees a certain ease in Ovechkin that wasn’t there when the Capitals were having great regular seasons only to fall well short in the playoffs.
”He’s very comfortable within our group,” Trotz said. ”And he’s very comfortable pushing forward and not worrying about anything else.”
That comfort was on display Sunday when he was asked about the impact his first trip to the Stanley Cup final is having in Russia.
”Vladimir Putin called me and wished me luck
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Until now, Ovechkin was criticized for the Capitals’ postseason failures. Washington had never moved beyond the second round during his career until this
spring surge, with ousters by the Pittsburgh Penguins the last two years
especially difficult.
He had 46 goals in 97 career playoff games before adding 12 more on this current playoff run. But despite an experienced roster and plenty of blame to go
around, the finger-pointing was often aimed at Ovechkin.
”Being the captain and the highest-paid player, I think he got a lot of unfair criticism,” said Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik, who has played with
and against Ovechkin. ”That comes with the territory. I think he understands
that, but it was really good to see him get by the second round.
”I don’t think he necessarily did that much different. I think we just played better as a team.”
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