The Thunder plays the Jazz in a first-round NBA playoff series that opens Sunday in downtown OKC. This is the Thunder’s eighth season to make the playoffs and the Thunder’s 18th series. But the first against the Jazz.
The Thunder has played the Grizzlies thrice, the Spurs thrice, the Mavericks thrice, the Rockets twice, the Lakers twice, the Clippers once, the Nuggets once, the Warriors once and the Heat once. But never Utah, until now.
The Jazz is a relatively obscure NBA franchise. Not a lot of national TV time. Not a lot of talk on the NBA family of networks.