The Most HOSTILE Playoff Series In Modern NBA...

This is the most hostile playoff series in modern basketball. The Thunder vs Jazz first round matchup in 2018 went completely out of control. It had 10 plus fights, ejections, fan altercations and much more. So buckle up and let's start from the beginning. Both teams had the same 48-34 record before the playoffs, but because of winning the season series 3-1, the Thunder got the home court advantage. So in Game 1 in OKC, despite the Jazz taking a surprising 12-point lead in the first quarter, the Thunder were able to come back and win the game comfortably at the end, behind the 65 points combined by PG and Russ. Things started heating up however as we saw multiple hard fouls on both ends that started igniting some flames between the players. But in Game 2, the big three of Russ, PG and Melo got into a serious shooting slump, combining for 54 points on a miserable 19-of-58 shooting. That's just 32% from the field. Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell, Ricky Rubio and Derek Favors completely outplayed them by scoring 70 points on 44% efficiency. The Jazz evened up the series and going to Utah for the next two games, they were pretty confident that they can protect their home court. And the Delta Center was roaring for Game 3. Rubio sends the crowd into a delirium with the one-legged three to beat the buzzer. On the other side, OKC's frustration started spilling on the court. PG and the Thunder were looking helpless in Utah, losing Game 3 by 13 points. So down 2-1, the pressure was mounting for the Thunder, who brought PG and Melo in to compete for a championship for Christ's sake, not to lose a first-round series against the Jazz of all teams. And tensions started boiling right after tip-off. Players started jawing at each other almost every time down the court. George and O'Neal bummed heads first, then Westbrook and Crowder got into a heated conversation after the foul by Russell Rubio here. Everyone was so nervous in the first half, and the actual basketball game was overshadowed. A few slaps and elbows were exchanged on the hardwood, and just 30 seconds later, we had another incident. Quinn Snyder jumped furiously off the bench after the refs missed this hard foul by Grant on Rudy Gobert. Needless to say that he earned himself a technical for that. On the very next trip down the lane, the refs had their hands full yet again. Steven Adams got teed up for his little elbow here on Gobert, and he admitted it immediately. But I really don't know why they hit Joe Inglis with a tech on this play, when he was only trying to get the ball in inbound. By halftime, we had 4 techs already, and Donovan Mitchell was able to give his team a 6-point lead heading into the break. Things calmed down a lot in the 3rd quarter, and the Jazz used that to build the lead up even more. Ricky and Rudy were connecting lobs, while rookie Spida was cooking everybody. And good ol' Joe set the exclamation point. The Jazz got up by 21 points, and the Thunder were looking lost. So in the final period, with nothing going their way, they resorted to violence. Having one tech already, the refs spared Westbrook, who came back for more just 2 minutes later, causing real chaos on the floor. Crowder and Westbrook were in the center of attention all game long, and things almost escalated on that one. Getting a 2nd technical of the game, Crowder was gone, but still, down by 20, Russ kept wilding. Snyder was outraged watching his players getting pushed around by Westbrook, who instead of earning a 6th foul, got rewarded with free throws. Regardless, that couldn't change the outcome, as the Jazz won game 4 comfortably behind Donovan's 33 points. Man, this had to be the most hostile game in recent history. I'm sure everyone was glad it was finally over. So, down 3 games to 1, the Thunder came on the brink of a catastrophe in game 5, as they fell into a 25 point deficit. However, this is the game when Russell Westbrook turned non-human. The Brody scored 33 of his 45 points in the last 20 minutes of the game, and with the help of Fiji, created an epic comeback. The Thunder stayed alive to fight another day, but in game 6, back in Utah, things got really ugly for them. In what turned into a hectic finish, the Thunder missed 7 straight shots trying to tie the game, but couldn't hit either of them. And the Jazz used that to put them to sleep and celebrate in 6 games. This got Westbrook on the edge of his nerves, resulting in him confronting a couple of fans at halftime and after the final buzzer. The devastating loss to the Jazz forced OKC's front office to break apart the after only one season, with Carmelo Anthony being the odd man out. And speaking of Melo, there was a time when he was incapable of missing a game winner. Yeah, he had 9 game winning shots before he turned 22 years old, and I have each and every one of them right here in this video. So, check it out and talk to you in the next one. Peace out.