NBA playoffs live: Can the Thunder tune out the Jazz and get rolling? - Washington Post

It's up to Russell Westbrook to guide the Thunder in Game 4. (Rick Bowmer/Associated Press)

The first round of the NBA playoffs continues today with two pivotal Game 4s. Follow along here for the latest analysis and commentary from The Post's NBA reporter Tim Bontemps, and ask him questions in the comments section. Catch up on yesterday's games here.

The Oklahoma City Thunder came into this season with sky-high expectations. After winning 47 games a year ago with Russell Westbrook putting up a historic, MVP-winning season, the additions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony in the offseason were supposed to make the Thunder back into a championship contender faster than anticipated following Kevin Durant bolting for the Bay Area in free agency in 2016.

Things, however, have not gone according to plan.

Anthony has played at a level far lower than expected as the team's third option. Andre Roberson, who was headed toward possibly being named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, was lost for the season in late January with a torn patellar tendon, altering the formula upon which the Thunder had built their team.

And now, as the Thunder is down 2-1 to the Utah Jazz entering Game 4 of this first-round series Monday night, a loss will put OKC right back in the same position it was in last year: possibly headed out of the playoffs in five games in the first round.

We have Westbrook declaring he's going to "shut that s— off," after Ricky Rubio scored 28 points to lift Utah to its Game 3 win Saturday night. We have Derrick Favors outplaying Anthony in Games 2 and 3, winning a matchup that will likely decide the outcome of this series. And we have Steven Adams, who was hardly ever in foul trouble this season, racking up calls in both Games 2 and 3, helping swing the series in Utah's direction.

So what has to change in Game 4? For one, Adams needs to stay on the court. There might not be a single player in the league stronger than the hulking New Zealander, and with him on the court, Rudy Gobert's outsized influence on the Jazz is somewhat diminished. Without Adams, Gobert can roam free and wreak havoc.

Anthony also needs to hit shots. Utah has played better in this series when Favors and Gobert have been able to share the court together — something that would be much tougher for the Jazz to do if Anthony can punish them for guarding him with Favors. That hasn't really been the case so far, though, allowing Utah to gain control.

And, perhaps most importantly, the Thunder needs Westbrook to get back to playing like himself. He's never going to be a good three-point shooter, but after going 10-for-21 on two-point shots in Game 1, he's gone a combined 9-for-29 the past two — a credit to the influence Gobert is having in the paint. That can also be traced back to Adams getting into foul trouble, as the Westbrook-Adams pick-and-roll — one of Oklahoma City's strengths, and something Gobert struggled to handle in Game 1 — has been neutralized the past two games.

Westbrook's defiant answer about Rubio's shooting after Game 3 became the thing everyone will be talking about up until tipoff Monday night in Salt Lake City. And while, yes, Westbrook simply can't be outplayed by Rubio like he was in Game 3, it's going to require changing a lot more than that for Oklahoma City to get the win it needs to even up this series Monday night.

Monday's schedule: