The season series is tied at one game apiece, and the winner showcased good defense by limiting the loser to under the century mark. Expect defense to be on display once again.

HOME TEAM: Oklahoma City Thunder (40-24, 20-13 at home)

The Thunder are continuing to create some well-deserved buzz for themselves. They are now fifth in the Western Conference thanks to a stretch that have them winning 17 of their last 22 games.

OKC won against the Utah Jazz last December 10th, 104-90. As per usual, team defense played a large role as it shackled the Jazz to just 36.2% shooting in the second half.

Everyone was in its typical form as well and delivered the usual production. Shai Gilegous-Alexander had a team-high 20 points, Chris Paul scored 16, dished out seven assists, and picked up three steals, while Steven Adams clogged the paint for a double double of 11 points and 13 rebounds to go along four blocks.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s leading scorer (19.3 PPG), missed the previous game due to a hip injury. It does sound like a rest more than anything, though, so he should be ready for tomorrow’s match-up.

Paul, meanwhile, has kicked into a new gear in the past month. He’s averaging 20.2 points and 7.4 assists on 55.3% shooting in his last 13 outings.

ROAD TEAM: Utah Jazz (41-23, 20-13 on the road)

If we’re going to base it on trends over the last six weeks, we can probably expect the Jazz to have another skid. They’re last 23 games have gone as follows: four-straight wins, five-straight losses, four-straight wins, four-straight losses, five-straight wins, and one loss. The most recent winning streak was snapped on Tuesday by the Toronto Raptors, 101-92.

The Jazz’s 100-95 win over the Thunder dates back to opening night almost five months ago. Donovan Mitchell powered on for a game-high 32 points, 14 of which came in the fourth quarter.

Mitchell only scored 11 points on a 4-for-17 shooting during Tuesday’s loss, so look for him to be aggressive in making up for the woeful performance. His main scoring partner, Bojan Bogdanovic, is in a similar situation. The Bosnian has scored below nine points in two of his last three games, and he also shot terribly in the previous meeting with OKC.

PREDICTION:

The matchups are pretty interesting (Gilgeous-Alexander and Paul versus Mitchell and Boganovic, and Gobert versus Adams) and OKC’s home record is also identical with the Jazz’s road record.

You gotta go with the hot hand, though. I expect the Thunder to get this W, 108-102.