Digging for gold
Thunder enters Round 2 against the Nuggets optimistic about Westbrook
Thunder prepares to face the Nuggets for the second time this season.
DENVER — Steven Adams gave Russell Westbrook an encouraging shove in the chest after the Thunder guard slid over on defense for an emphatic block Wednesday night against the Pelicans. Pick him up now, and maybe Westbrook would pick the Thunder up later.
The last time Westbrook saw the Denver Nuggets, he had to pick himself up hours after the game with a latenight shooting session.
As the Thunder prepares to face Denver again — a battle between two of the top three teams in the Western Conference on Friday at the Pepsi Center — Westbrook’s shooting hasn’t improved much
since that 1-of-12 3-point performance, but there have been positives in his overall play.
It reads patronizingly after a seven-turnover Westbrook performance against the Pelicans, but the Thunder contingent wasn’t as dour as you’d think following the 118114 loss to New Orleans on Wednesday. Shots didn’t fall. Jerami Grant was in foul trouble. The Pelicans were a frontcourt wrecking machine led by All-Star Anthony Davis.
The optimism was rooted in Westbrook’s performance.
“Russell, I thought made a great pass to Alex and we got a pretty good look,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said of the Thunder’s final shot against the Pelicans. “We wanted to get some
confusion to create some penetration and we got that. I thought Russell made a really good play.”
The last time the Thunder played the Nuggets, it was the opposite. Westbrook played the Thunder out of what would have been a miraculous 25-point comeback, some of the most stinging misses from 3-point range coming in a twopossession game.
How will Round 2 go? Maybe Wednesday's close against the Pelicans was a sneak peek.
Against a clogged paint and fighting the turnover bug, Westbrook corralled his game in the fourth quarter to score 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. In the process, Westbrook engineered the Thunder’s best sequence — a three-pass possession which ended with a Paul George 3-pointer.
Westbrook started it by stopping, surveying, and waiting for Adams to catch up to the play in
an eight-point game. He later set up Alex Abrines for the potential gamewinning shot.
There’s an argument that Westbrook should have shot the mid-range jumper with the Pelicans’ Davis dropped deep into the paint. Westbrook, though, is still mired in an across-the-board slump of 43.3⁄27.9⁄57.6 (field goal/3-point/free throw) percentages since the Thunder’s Nov. 24 loss to Denver.
“He made the right play in that instance, drawing everybody to the paint and kicking to Alex,” George said. “He’s been doing that. He’s been making the right plays.”
Even while finding his offensive rhythm, the Thunder has gone 5-2 since the last time it played the Nuggets. The Thunder is outscoring the opposition by 16.2 points per 100 possessions with Westbrook in the game during
that span, one of the best marks in the league. Amid personal struggle from the 3-point arc to the foul line, Westbrook hasn’t been a detriment, but a plus.
Westbrook said it himself. He’s worried more about winning than rhythm. The Thunder didn’t seem very concerned either, even after a loss.
What’s more important in an 82-game season rather than winning a sole road game in December is Westbrook’s offense balancing with the Thunder’s. Some night’s he’ll star. Some night’s he’ll defer. Denver is the latest case study of how he’ll interpret the game.
“Russ is probably the most comfortable guy in those positions,” said George, conjuring images of the Thunder’s escape from Brooklyn where Westbrook provided the winning assist. “He’s going to make the right play and we trust him.”