OKC- GS set-to
As expected, yesterday’s featured National Basketball Association contest featured all the drama expected of rivals butting heads. From the hostile welcome given the Warriors to the lack of handshakes during the opening tip to the physical play that marked the action on both ends of the court, it was clear that the Thunder and their fans continued to harbor ill feelings stemming from the shocking departure of erstwhile top dog Kevin Durant in the offseason. It didn’t matter that the latter was compelled to stay in the sidelines due to a knee injury. The lines were drawn, and both sides obviously saw the meeting as far more than just any other.
The problem, however, was evident by the time the set- to reached halftime: The Thunder do not have the personnel to match up against the Warriors. Durant had starred in the latter’s victories in all three previous encounters, and his absence had the potential to somehow make yesterday’s more competitive. As things turned out, it didn’t. Russell Westbrook continued to be active and, at times, otherworldly, but his emotions got the better of him for the most part. He appeared to be pressing, and there was simply no one else around him good enough to restore order.
Westbrook was both good and bad yesterday, and because he wasn’t anywhere near perfect, the Thunder had no chance. Which, from a detached point of view, should serve to bolster his claim to the Most Valuable Player award. The blue and yellow have no business getting to within sniffing distance of homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs, let alone being in the playoffs. And yet they are. They should be scraping the bottom of the barrel considering their uneven roster. And yet they aren’t. Why? Because they have their lone All- Star carrying them on his shoulders.
In all likelihood, Westbrook will finish his 2016-2017 campaign averaging a triple-double. It’s a remarkable feat in and of itself; no one else in pro hoops history save for Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson 55 years ago has done the same. What makes it even more stunning is this: The pace of play now is slower in comparison, he’s a dwarf in the paint at 6’3”, and his teammates aren’t exactly shotmakers who can turn his passes into assists with relative ease. And the clincher? He essentially has to reach the statistical milestone in order for the Thunder to have a chance to prevail; they’re a heady 28 and six when he does and 12 and 24 when he doesn’t.
It remains to be seen whether voters will reward Westbrook with the Larry O’Brien Trophy when the smoke clears. If they don’t, it won’t be because he didn’t try hard enough. In fact, it’s because he leaves nothing in the tank every time out that the Thunder come close to being respectable. Nonetheless, a loss is a loss, and, as with
all the others, yesterday’s reflects on him.