Thunder vs. Jazz NBA final score: Oklahoma City falls to Utah, 97-81

The Oklahoma City Thunder were thoroughly defeated by the Utah Jazz, 97-81 in preseason action on Friday night. The Thunder started off the game slow as they trailed by eight points after the first quarter, and they never could recover from that slow start. It did not help that the Thunder were playing without Russell Westbrook, James Harden who was sidelined with a groin injury and Kendrick Perkins was out with a wrist injury.

The Jazz were able to get past the Thunder with a balanced scoring attack as five players scored in double figures, and Mo Williams led the way with 15 points.

The Thunder focused on playing backups and rookies who earned a lot of playing time in the loss. Rookie Perry Jones III came of the bench to lead the Thunder in scoring with 14 points, and second-year guard Reggie Jackson had another solid performance as he started and put up 10 points.

Kevin Durant played just 19 minutes and finished with nine points, three assists, two rebounds and a blocked shot.