The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off an epic double overtime victory against the Utah Jazz from Friday night. It took a Paul George final-second effort to finally seal the win for the Thunder, to the absolute delight of head coach Billy Donovan. According to the 53-year-old coach, his team exhibited the type of grit and toughness that is required to succeed at the highest level:

“I thought our guys showed a lot of toughness in the game,” Donovan said, via ESPN. “There were different points in time, especially in regulation, where we needed to make a play and we did. Obviously with Russell and Terrance (Ferguson) fouling out, we had a lot of guys absorb minutes.”

The Thunder would just to refuse to let up on this one, as they saw to it that the Jazz would not be able to steal a game on Oklahoma's home floor. Coach Donovan was obviously pleased with his team's overall effort, and as he said, extra emphasis has to be placed on the fact that guys stepped up when their number were called.

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It was MVP candidate Paul George who once again led the way for the Thunder on Saturday, as he dropped a game-high 45 points (on 17-of-31 shooting) against Utah's renowned defense. The 6-foot-9 wing also added five three-pointers, nine rebounds, seven assists, and a steal in an astounding 50 minutes of action.

His backcourt buddy, Russell Westbrook, had himself a game as well, scoring 43 points on an efficient 15-of-29 from the floor. The former MVP winner did see his record-setting streak of tripe-doubles end in this contest, as he was only able to muster eight assists along with 15 rebounds as he fouled out after 43 minutes of play.

This crucial win lifts the Thunder to 38-20, as they continue to tighten their grip on the third spot in the West.