Westbrook’s 51 points in vain

In 71% of their total regular season minutes, with Russ on the court, the Thunder shot better, scored more, played better defense, rebounded the ball better, assisted on more shots and turned the ball over less compared to when he sat down.

An exchange between Houston Rockets point guard Patrick Beverley and a fan following Game 3 of the first-round playoff series Friday night between the Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder is under investigation by the National Basketball Association.

“I don’t give a (bleep) about the (stat) line”, Westbrook said to reporters after the game. Before Houston could muster a second field goal, a Nene dunk with 6:04 left in the first, the Thunder led 20-9.

Even though the Thunder controlled the game for most of three quarters on Wednesday night, OKC completely collapsed in the final frame and now face a must-win game at home on Friday.

Thunder Coach Billy Donovan thought Westbrook might have gotten exhausted late after playing the entire fourth quarter, but Westbrook brushed off that notion.

He posted a triple-double of 51 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

Despite the game-plan not working, Westbrook’s teammates remain confident in their leader.

James Harden was dominant for the Rockets, but the amount of support he had from teammates was evident and could prove to be the difference going forward.

Harden, who scored well but was somewhat contained by Andre Roberson, was relentless in attacking the rim which resulted in 20 free throw attempts, as part of his 35 points. The shot hit the front of the rim, then bounced off the backboard and away as Westbrook flew in and batted at the ball, ending any chance of a Rockets put-back. “I didn’t try to overthink it”. So who is watching him jack up 43 shots and thinking, ‘man, I’ve got to play with the guy who just shot 43 times!’ Williams finished with 21 points and Gordon finished with 22. His shooting at the foul line remains gruesome, however: He was 0 of 5 in Game 3. Thunder coach Billy Donovan also needs to either find a creative way to get more production out of the bench unit by either pairing Enes Kanter with Steven Adams or finding a method that can help keep pace with Houston tandem of Lou Williams and Eric Gordon.

Thunder: Westbrook was just two rebounds shy of a triple-double by halftime with 22 points and 10 assists. Harden was quoted saying the match “wasn’t pretty”.

After Washington won the series opener over the weekend, Millsap bemoaned aloud about how things went, saying: “The difference in the game is we were playing basketball and they were playing MMA”.

Westbrook finished with 51 points, 13 assists, and 10 boards.

And that, in many ways, is a microcosm for Westbrook’s season.

He went with an offensive-heavy look for large stretches, expanding the minutes given to Alex Abrines and Doug McDermott. Cole won two championship rings with the Miami Heat and is the veteran of 66 playoff games. The series is now 2-1 in favor of the Rockets, but there’s an understanding that things need to be fixed. They’re very athletic and long.