The Oklahoma City Thunder passed the ball all over the court, played smothering defense and looked like a team with legitimate hopes of making the playoffs.
The young Thunder also reminded the Jazz that Utah's home court is an advantage, not a guarantee.
Kevin Durant scored 28 points and led a third-quarter surge that gave Oklahoma City a huge cushion, and the Thunder withstood a late run by Utah in a 104-94 win Tuesday night.
"We passed the ball and made shots and we executed our offense all the way through," said Durant, whose eight assists were one off his career high. "Instead of two passes, then a shot or one pass and a shot, we got maybe four passes and shot."
The Thunder outscored the Jazz 31-16 in the third and won in Utah for the first time since April 2007 — when they were still the Seattle SuperSonics.
Jeff Green had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists and Thabo Sefolosha shut down Utah's Deron Williams, holding him to just 10 points as the Thunder ended a four-game losing streak in Utah.
Oklahoma City, which lost at the Los Angeles Lakers two nights before, also took advantage of 24 turnovers and improved to 5-4 on the road. The Thunder won eight games away from home all last season.
