NBA playoffs 2018: Three takeaways from Thunder's wild Game 5 win over Jazz - Sporting News

The Thunder clawed their way back in Game 5 to avoid elimination and grab a 107-99 win over the Jazz on Wednesday night.

Russell Westbrook went off for 45 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, while Paul George piled on 34 points and grabbed eight rebounds of his own.

With a huge Game 6 on the horizon, here are three takeaways from Oklahoma City's huge victory...

The third quarter belonged to Westbrook and George

The way the Thunder had been playing this series, it would have made sense if they put their heads down and started planning their offseason vacations midway through the third quarter when they trailed by 25 points — 25 points!

Instead, Westbrook and George put together a comeback for the ages. The Thunder outscored the Jazz 32-7 with Westbrook tying a career playoff-high with 20 points in the period.

The duo got hot from downtown, and with Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors in foul trouble, OKC went nuts in the paint, attacking the rim at will. Westbrook and George brought the Thunder to life as they relentlessly bullied the Jazz on both sides of the floor.

In the second half, they scored 54 of the Thunder's 66 points. Yikes!

Alex Abrines = defensive stopper?

Abrines is on this Thunder team to provide spacing and knock down catch-and-shoot 3-pointers. Defense has never been his calling card, but you wouldn't have known it Wednesday night.

The Spaniard was vital to the Thunder's comeback, forcing turnovers, suffocating outside shooters and doing the dirty work as PG-13 and Russ took the wheel.

In the fourth quarter with the Thunder leading by two, he came up with this fantastic sequence, blocking Donovan Mitchell's shot on one end and then burying a triple at the other to put OKC up five.

Taking care of the ball

Through the first four games of the series, the Thunder averaged 15.5 turnovers, but in Game 5 they valued their offensive possessions, only coughing up the ball up eight times.

The big difference was that they were still able to force the Jazz into 16 turnovers, allowing OKC to get out in transition and pick up easy buckets. The Thunder are the No. 1 team in the playoffs at capitalizing on mistakes with 22.6 points off turnovers per game.

The formula is simple: take care of the ball and take care of business.