Nuggets clip Thunder
DENVER – In a bright yellow jacket and backward hat, Russell Westbrook diplomatically walked through the final possession after another passionate play in the Pepsi Center.
A 15-point deficit had been whittled down to a tie game. A collective effort had been established after three quarters of Thunder defensive doldrums.
But in the Thunder’s 127124 loss, one play led to a redemptive moment for the Nuggets and a second consecutive loss for Oklahoma City. So, after a fan screamed in Westbrook’s face in the pandemonium of Gary Harris’s game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer – and said fan received a shove from Westbrook and heavy hands from security – Westbrook took the time to explain what happened on the basketball side.
He’d take the blame. He was "ballwatching,” he copped, since everybody was saying it. Westbrook didn't mean it.
"It’s tough,” Westbrook said. “Jeremi falls down. (Denver center Nikola) Jokic is looking at the basket, and kind of jumps up and guns it over there.
“You don’t want to give up a layup at the end of the game. But tough shot. I got back to the closeout. He made a tough shot, but it is what it is.”
The Thunder headed back to Chesapeake Energy Arena for its third game in four nights after a series of questionable non-calls that, depending on your side of the Northwest Division rivalry, looked like either a series of bad breaks or pinpoint execution. Paul George seemingly had taken the Pepsi Center’s hearts like Westbrook did in April.
From a little closer in on the left wing than Westbrook’s dagger 3-pointer in a 50-point triple-double last season, George scored his game-high 43rd point to tie it 124-124 with 2.2 seconds left. It completed an unlikely rally that saw the Thunder reserves start the quarter strong led by Grant, and had George and Westbrook leading the way to a nervous finish. Then, the Thunder’s 3-point defense – which allowed 14-of-33 from deep through three quarters – came back to bite it again. Or did it?
Denver’s payback for the April 9 Westbrook Dagger at first glance: Harris drifted to the corner, Westbrook lost track of him watching Jokic’s inbound on the other side of the court, and Harris drained a walk-off 3-pointer from the right wing, running to the tunnel as his teammates followed.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Nikola (Jokic) on making that pass, give a lot of credit to Wilson Chandler for getting a good screen and obviously, give a lot of credit to Gary Harris for stepping up and making that shot,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said.
But Chandler’s screen was a clobbering of Grant that could have been called on either player, though Chandler initiated the contact. The bulldozing made it difficult for either Westbrook or Grant to close out to the 3-point line. “I probably would have ran out there,” said Grant, who had drawn two charges before the game’s last play. “It was only 1.4 seconds, so they don’t have time to pass the ball twice. We probably both would have ran out there.”
Westbrook still got out to Harris, but it wasn’t without effort. In a game where Westbrook’s defense was poor, and he was several steps behind Jamal Murray (33 points) – who feasted on the Thunder’s defensive switches – he did his mightiest to get out to Harris’s shot. It was a shot that wouldn’t have been possible had Jokic not delivered a pinpoint pass.
… A pass that he shuffled along the sideline around Steven Adams to deliver, which is illegal. According to the NBA’s Rule Book, Rule No. 10, Section III states that “A thrower-in shall not (4) leave the designated throw-in spot which is one step to his left or right.”
But why didn't Westbrook follow Harris to the corner to begin with?
“Again, with where he was providing help at the rim with 1.4 seconds (left), and Jerami going down … what happened was they inverted,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “Harris just raised up. It went from a short closeout if it got skipped to the corner where his (Westbrook’s) man was … it turned out to be a lot longer because Harris moved all the way up toward halfcourt, which made the run from Russell a lot more difficult.”
Until that point, the Thunder didn’t allow a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. Before the fourth, however, the Thunder’s defense was a sieve, allowing 53.2 percent. Thunder opponents are shooting 38.1 percent from 3-point range in the last five games.
Grant finished with 18 points, and Westbrook fell a rebound shy of a tripledouble with 20 points, 21 assists and nine rebounds.
It was an odd one for the Thunder, who shot 52 percent and had 62 points in the paint, but only six of those came from Westbrook.
A Thunder starter didn’t shoot a free throw until 3:25 in the third quarter, Denver determined to make Westbrook drive and kick. For all of the Thunder’s blunder, it rallied from a double-digit deficit on a night where Westbrook was off from the field, the defense was nonexistentfor 36 minutes, and a final possession will produce a Last Two Minute report worthy of the 2016 Western Conference Semifinals Game 2 against San Antonio. So, Westbrook wasn’t so sad. Nor was George. The Pelicans loom on the second night of a back-to-back.
“We look at the positives,” George said. “This is how Denver plays. They make threes, they stretch the floor, they spread it, they play downhill, attack, and move the ball.
“I thought there was a lot of positives. I thought once we made the adjustment, we put them on their heels. It was just a little too late.”