SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz held shootaround on Monday morning ahead of their matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder at 8:30 p.m. MT.

Can Ricky Rubio be stopped?

After Game 4, Russell Westbrook made a guarantee that he was going to shut Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio off.

Rubio didn't seem too phased by the comments, though.

"They lost Game 2 and Game 3. Of course they're going to come ready. It's not just him, we expect the whole team to come ready and be physical," he said. "We're going to keep doing what we've done in the last couple of games."

Donovan Mitchell gave Westbrook the benefit of the doubt.

"The biggest thing that I respect about Russ is his competitive nature," Mitchell said. "Ricky played amazing last game, so the competitor in anybody would be like 'I want to go back and go after it next game.' That's just how this league is."

Here's the thing: if the Thunder, and especially Westbrook, focus too much attention on Rubio not scoring, the Jazz will probably be able to adapt. Rubio's best skill is his vision and passing, so if they're sending help on him, or start trapping him off screens, he'll likely be able to reliably find the open man.

Then there's the question of effort. Westbrook does save energy right now on defense, there's no denying it. If he ramps it up to 100 percent to guard Rubio, can he be effective offensively? Or will he settle for jump shots?

I have no real doubt that Westbrook can play better than he has the last couple of games, when he wasn't a real threat on either offense or defense. But as far as shutting down Rubio goes, the Jazz should be able to find other options.

Steven Adams in foul trouble

The Jazz have benefitted in the last two games with Steven Adams being limited in playing time due to foul trouble. That's not too likely to continue in Game 4. For one, Adams has traditionally done a good job of avoiding those fouls, especially during the regular season.

"This whole year there’s never been two games in a row that Steven Adams has been in foul trouble," Billy Donovan pointed out when asked about it on Sunday. "That’s never happened. Obviously, it’s a physical game. And he’s been, to be quite honest, on a difficult end the last two games with some of those fouls."

Despite anticipating that Adams might be available more frequently, the Thunder seem to be preparing to use more of their small lineup.

Patterson had an up-and-down Game 3 playing at that center position. On one hand, he hit every shot he took, nailing two threes in the first quarter that really contributed to the Thunder building a 12-point lead. On the other hand, he was really partially responsible for the Jazz's comeback, with some bad turnovers once he decided not to shoot.

Even when Adams is in the game, though, the Jazz have largely had answers. Adams averaged 14 points per game this season on 9.4 shots per contest, but he's yet to get to either of those averages in this series. The Jazz have really prevented him from getting touches, and even when he has gotten low-post looks, like on this play, he's being dissuaded from taking shots by Rudy Gobert:

Adams might be OKC's most efficient scoring option. That the Jazz have taken him out of this series, whether he finds himself on the court or off of it, is one of their biggest accomplishments so far.

Rudy's Players Tribune article

Monday morning also featured the release of an article on the Players' Tribune, with Gobert listed as the author. Gobert's piece talks about his first year with the Jazz, and how everything changed when Quin Snyder began coaching the team in 2014.

Here's the part that fans might like the most, though:

That’s the maximum attendance at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Any team that wants a piece of us is gonna have to come to Salt Lake City and deal with all 19,911 of you. Maybe nobody else believes in us, but that’s their problem. We know we’re still being overlooked. In Utah, people have seen that before. Now is the time to take what we know we deserve. Now is the time we make sure they hear us. And we’re going to need all of you. Every single one.

While Vivint Arena's capacity is no longer 19,911 after the renovation (it's now 18,306), those fans that come to Game 4 are being called upon by Gobert to be just as loud as those that made an impact on proceedings in Game 3.

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