Westbrook stars but OKC out
It’s over. Steven Adams and the Oklahoma City Thunder are out of the NBA playoffs, eliminated by a deeper and more dialled-in Houston Rockets side.
Despite a 47-point explosion from superstar point guard Russell Westbrook, the Thunder lost game five of their western conference first-round series 105-99 in Houston yesterday to give the Rockets the series 4-1.
Westbrook tried his darnedest to keep his team in the hunt, but ran out of puff in the final quarter after a 20-point third term. He finished with 47 points on 15-of-34 shooting (five of 18 from deep and 12 of 17 from the line) to go with 11 rebounds and nine assists, falling agonisingly short of a fourth straight triple-double.
Adams played 39 minutes and was once again a defensive anchor for the Thunder who just lacked the scoring support for Westbrook to live with the Rockets’ more balanced squad. They did well to rally back from an 11-point thirdquarter deficit to lead by five heading into the final term.
The big Kiwi finished with seven points (3/4 FG), nine rebounds and four blocks and, notably, was plus-10 in the plus/ minus for the game.
Westbrook was plus-12, with the Thunder’s No 1 issue in this series continuing to be their inability to hold firm while their star point guard was off the floor.
In game five Westbrook was off the floor for six minutes in total. During that time the Rockets outscored the Thunder 27-9.
The simple fact of the matter was that both teams had gamechanging superstars – the Rockets’ James Harden is considered by many a more worthy MVP candidate than Westbrook – but the dynamic Thunder star lacked the supporting cast that got Harden’s team home in the end.
Through the five games of the series the Thunder were plus-15 points while Westbrook was on the floor and a massive minus-58 when he was off.
In contrast, the Rockets were plus-19 when Harden was on and plus-24 when he was off.
Despite some critics suggesting Westbrook needed to play all 48 minutes for the Thunder to have a chance, OKC coach Billy Donovan said he played him as much as he dared (42 in game five).
‘‘I had to get him some kind of rest with how hard he plays and how much he lays it on the line. He is a human being,’’ Donovan said afterwards.
Donovan said he ‘‘couldn’t be any prouder of the way our guys competed tonight’’ but congratulated the Houston Rockets on winning a series that was a lot closer, and a lot more hard fought, than the final 4-1 scoreline indicated.
And on Westbrook, Donovan said: ‘‘He’s demanding, [he’s] challenging, he wants guys to bring it. But his leadership for our group I thought was tremendous.’’
Westbrook, who left the court at the end of the game without congratulating the Rockets, was seen in tears in the changing-room afterwards.
At the press conference he said: ‘‘I consider it a good season. Everybody did an amazing job. I can be nothing but proud of them. Our team rallied around each other.
‘‘We came together. That was the most important part. We had our struggles early on but as the season went on we stuck together through everything, and I’m most proud of that.’’
James Harden led the Rockets with 34 points on eight-of-25 shooting, eight rebounds and four assists, while Lou Williams had 22 points off the bench (12 in the final quarter), nuisance guard Patrick Beverley 15 and eight boards and Nene 14 points and seven rebounds.
In a topsy-turvy encounter, the Thunder led by six (22-16) after the first quarter, trailed by seven (44-51) at halftime and then stormed into a 77-72 lead at the final break, courtesy of a Westbrook-fuelled 27-11 run over the last 7:04 of the third period.
OKC’S star point guard poured in 20 third-quarter points to change the momentum of a game that looked to be swinging away from his side when the Rockets edged out to an 11-point lead (61-50) early in the term.
But then as Westbrook sat the first 2:45 of the final period, the Rockets, courtesy of 10 quick points from supersub Williams, turned their five-point thirdquarter deficit into a five-point (86-81) advantage.
From there, once a tiring Westbrook started coming up short on his shots (in the final quarter he missed nine of his 11 attempts), it was always going to be a big ask for the Thunder.
So the Rockets progress, as the seedings suggested they should. And Adams and his mates head for an early summer to contemplate what they might be able to do next season to give Westbrook the help he needs.