Thunder falls to Rockets
Westbrook drops 49 points in Thunder’s loss to Rockets, 118-116.
HOUSTON — Two distinctly different games. Two Most Valuable Player candidates.
Neither Russell Westbrook nor James Harden disappointed Thursday at the Toyota Center.
Westbrook finished with a game-high 49 points, but Harden provided what proved to be the game-clinching sequence in the Thunder’s 118-116 loss to the Rockets on Thursday.
With 3.8 seconds left, Harden penetrated and darted an overhead pass to Nene, who screened for Harden and had a wide-open drive.
Thunder forward Jerami Grant skied across the lane, his head nearly touching the rim.
On video replay, he appeared to block Nene’s shot, but was called for a foul.
Nene, who pestered the Thunder in the screenand-roll game all night for 18 points, made both free throws for the 118116 lead.
“I don’t know if it was a foul or not,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “I’m not saying it was or wasn’t.”
Entering Thursday, Westbrook (16) and Harden (nine) had 25 of the NBA’s 42 triple-doubles. Neither had a tripledouble Thursday, but it didn’t diminish their powerful performances.
Throughout the game, Westbrook willed himself to scores at speed, and Harden crafted Rockets’ buckets at a slow churn.
Westbrook had to pull up quickly before the double team blitzed him at the top of the 3-point line.
Isolated on Domantas Sabonis, Harden’s low dribble emulated a pendulum’s swinging before he whizzed a pass over the Thunder rookie’s shoulder.
As the second quarter waned, Westbrook’s hot start had voices at the Toyota Center tossing out over/unders on his final point total.
Westbrook had 21 points in 15 minutes, including a scorching 6-of-7 first quarter in which he elevated over arch nemesis Patrick Beverley and any other set of defenders the Rockets threw at him.
Westbrook finished with eight 3-pointers, a career-high, on 16-of-34 shooting.
“It’s not like we just gave them him threes or he just walked into them,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He made some unbelievable shots.”
At the end, Westbrook and Harden were faceto-face with the game on the line, the Thunder having battled back from a 14-point deficit at start the fourth quarter.
At 116-116, the teams traded misses for three possessions before the Rockets switched defenders and the two were staring each other down.
Westbrook’s right angle 3-pointer was long off the back rim, and the Rockets corralled the rebound with 3.8 seconds left for their final possession.
With 0.7 seconds left but Enes Kanter’s missed his contested attempt off a cross-court Victor Oladipo inbounds pass.
Westbrook added eight rebounds and five assists. Harden had a game-high 12 assists, but was 6-of16 shooting, hounded by Andre Roberson for the third straight meeting between the teams.
But Harden’s pass served as punctuation on the matchup of MVP front-runners.
The Thunder lost its third consecutive game. The Rockets took a 2-1 lead in the season series — three games decided by a combined seven points.
A final meeting between the teams — the backcourt talents — awaits March 26.
“It’s great, man,” Westbrook said of battling against his former Thunder teammate turned competitor. “That’s what sports is all about.”