A Good Start Ends In Heartbreak For The Thunder
By A. Suave Francisco
On the second night facing the Houston Rockets in front of their very supporting crowd, the Oklahoma City Thunder seemed to figure something out through three full quarters where they led throughout. Things took a swift turn for the worst late in the third when the Thunder's second team allowed a demanding Houston comeback, which turned into momentum, resulting in a fourth-quarter lead that OKC couldn't fully recover from. Despite the foul trouble Houston was in. The Rockets beat the Thunder down the stretch and improved their series lead to 2-0.
Russell Westbrook got his team off to a great start which is exactly what the Thunder needed, considering how poor their second team is. It was a form of damage control -- they wanted to get a big enough lead over the Rockets to perhaps weather the storm whenever it came. The plan was working in the first quarter for seemingly everyone. Westbrook had 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, but more importantly, Andre Roberson did his job by limiting James Harden's effectiveness while scoring 6 points of his own on the other end of the floor.
Taj Gibson's impact in the first half was tremendous, providing the Thunder with something they didn't have in the first game: an inside presence. Gibson forced Houston to pay special attention to the paint, which allowed Westbrook to flourish as the game progressed while also incorporating multiple players in the offense, leading to his 10 first-half assists in addition to his 22 points. Things were looking up.
Throughout most of the third quarter, things went about the same as they did in the first half with Westbrook picking up where he left off, as did Roberson. Doug McDermott came off the bench and scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting as well. However, at the 2:21 mark Westbrook substituted out of the game and Houston went on a 12-3 run, trimming the Thunder lead to 89-86 to end the quarter. Kyle Singler, a player Billy Donovan can't seem to completely eliminate from the rotation, was Harden's primary defender during this stretch and that's when he let loose for 12 third quarter points, including a 3-point dagger to end the period. At this moment, the Thunder faithful felt a significant deal of uneasiness heading into the final quarter.
Westbrook started the fourth which is unusual for him as he normally sits until around the 8-minute mark. No one saw it coming but seemingly for the first time in his career, he was tired. He got 2:21 of rest, which isn't enough for the motor he plays on and because of that he didn't take good shots down the stretch. Frankly, he didn't make sound decisions which is very uncharacteristic of his game.
By the 3:16 mark of the fourth quarter, both Patrick Beverley and Harden were in serious foul trouble with 5, and Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni chose to take his chances by hiding his most productive guards in the post on defense to avoid any contact. The seemingly obvious choice was for Westbrook to either attack the lane, forcing Beverley or Harden to make a decision, or for him to feed the ball into the post, forcing the two to make the same decision. Instead, Westbrook took questionable shots en route to 4-of-18 shooting and 1-of-7 from three in the final 12 minutes of the game. He did become the first player to notch a 50-point triple double in the playoffs though, with 51 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds, but according to him, that doesn't matter because they didn't get the win.
Optimistically thinking, the Thunder played a good 30 minutes of this game and may have discovered some things that may work on the offensive end, while finding a working formula to slow down Harden's offensive onslaught. Realistically thinking, they are down 2-0 in a best-of-7 series. Yes, they return to the Chesapeake Energy Arena for Games 3 and 4 but the daunting task of having to win a game in Houston to advance in this series is still looming over their head. It'll be tough, but after today the Thunder may have found a winning recipe.