Russell Westbrick And What Happened To OKC?
After 3 games from Day 10 of the Playoffs, a few topics arose from the action. Today I will be talking about Russell Westbrook and the OKC Thunder.
After 3 games from Day 10 of the Playoffs, a few topics arose from the action. Today I will be talking about Russell Westbrook and the OKC Thunder.
Russell Westbrook
Westbrook has been injured throughout the NBA Restart. Westbrook only played in 4 of the 8 seeding games, and before Game 5 had not played an NBA Playoff Game.
Westbrook made his Bubble Playoff Debut with the Rockets in Game 5 vs the Thunder, and he didn’t play well. Westbrook played limited minutes as he went 3/13 from the field and had just 7 points.
Now I sort of expected this saying he hadn’t played in a while, but it might be a problem for the Rockets in the future.
The Rockets seemed to have found a new style of offense without Westbrook. Without him they shoot a lot more 3’s and there isn’t much penetration. But with Westbrook, their spacing becomes worse and they play a lot different.
It will be another learning curve for the Rockets to get Westbrook back into the lineup. And not only do they have to re-incorporate Westbrook into the offense, he has to play well.
So it’ll be interesting to see what the Rockets do with Westbrook throughout the rest of the series vs OKC. Obviously Westbrook will be better in Game 6 as he gets into better game shape. But how will the Rockets play with Westbrook, who is a completely different force against their shooting offense. I think that the Rockets can get Westbrook back into the offense, he will just have to play well.
OKC Thunder
After winning Games 3 and 4, the Thunder found themselves in a tied series with the Houston Rockets. The Thunder had found the recipe for success as their 3 guards had to dominate in order to win. A win in Game 5 would put the Thunder in a prime position to pull off the upset.
But the Thunder got blown out in Game 5, and now they trail 3-2 in the series. But, why did the lose?
Remember what I said about how the Thunder guards needed to dominate in order to win. Yeah, that didn’t happen.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 4 points in 34 minutes, a terrible game.
Dennis Schroder had 19 points in 21 minutes before he was ejected.
CP-3 had 16 points and 6 rebounds in 30 minutes.
So CP-3 and Schroder played ok, but nothing great. But Shai didn’t play ell at all. His jumpers weren’t falling and he couldn’t get into a rhythm. The Thunder will need lots of production from the 3 of them in order to win.
And on top of that, Danilo Gallinari had just 1 point the entire game. Not going to cut it.
Offensively, the Thunder shot 32% from the field and 15% from 3 as they could not make a basket all night long. Pair that with their defensive woes, and now the Thunder are in a tough spot.
I think that the Thunder don’t necessarily have to play great defense to win. They held Russell Westbrook down all night and forced him to take jumpshots. But James Harden had 31 points while shooting 70%+ from the field. That can’t happen again.
So the Thunder now need two wins and they know what they need to do. Give the ball to their 3 guards and let them work. CP-3 is a great shooter and facilitator and Shai and Schroder can also be good at it. But if they play like they did in Game 5, this series is over.
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My Game-Day Report From Day 11 of the NBA Playoffs Will Be Posted Later Today, So Stay Tuned!
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