Thunder can count on Roberson's defense against Jazz

Defense has been the main buzzword for the Oklahoma City Thunder throughout the season. Whenever the team has gone through losing streaks or had a bad loss, coach Billy Donovan and the players revert back to the term to explain what needs to get better.

However, one player for the Thunder has escaped most defensive criticism. Guard Andre Roberson has been consistently up to the challenge when it comes to making opposing players work for every point they get.

Robertson and the Thunder (36-29) will host the Utah Jazz (41-24) on Saturday.

More often than not, it is Robertson who gets assigned the team's best perimeter player, whether it's Carmelo Anthony, CJ McCullum or Kawhi Leonard.

While Roberson didn't shut down those players, he did make their nights increasingly tougher. Roberson's teammates have not lost track of how vital that has been to Oklahoma City's success.

"Dre does that every single night," Russell Westbrook said of Roberson. "Like I've been saying all season long. Obviously, when we lose some game, it gets lost in the sauce. But he defends at a high level every single night, regardless of the team's best players, and does a good job."

Some of Roberson's defensive prowess may have rubbed off on his teammates.

After allowing the previous six opponents to reach triple digits, the Thunder finally held a team below 100 when they beat the Spurs 102-92. In the process, they forced 14 turnovers and held the Spurs to 41 percent shooting from the field.

"I think we did a really good offensively and defensively," Thunder center Enes Kanter said. "We did a good job of boxing them out and getting stops."

The Thunder and Jazz both have big men who can create shots and play defense and guards and can defend and make shots.

Utah and Oklahoma City have played each other three times this season with the Thunder owning a 2-1 edge. The last time they played was Feb. 28 and the Thunder won 109-106 to climb to within two games of the Jazz for the Northwest Division lead.

Since then, Oklahoma City has faulted and Utah has increased its lead to five.

While the Jazz rank 28th in the league in scoring, they have recently found a way to improve their offensive output at the end of games. Veteran small forward Joe Johnson has been eating up minutes at the power forward position.

It's a move Jazz coach Quinn Snyder says Johnson's skill set allows him to handle.

"He's unique not just in his ability to shoot but his ability to play-make at that position," Snyder told ESPN.com. "You can find a guy that can make a shot, but he can make plays for other people."

Combine Johnson with the frontcourt of Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors and Boris Diaw and the Jazz have the ability to cause mismatches for most teams in the league.

However, with the recent additions to the Thunder roster, Oklahoma City may be well equipped to handle them.

If all else fails, Oklahoma City still has Westbrook, who will be gunning for his 32nd triple-double of the season, which would break the tie he has with Wilt Chamberlain.

"It's a blessing man," Westbrook said. "You come out every night and try to compete at a high level and whenever you are mentioned with guys like that it is always a blessing. I don't take it for granted."