NBA Finals 2012: Russell Westbrook Must Take Less Risks to Defeat Heat

Wise shot selection is a foreign concept to Russell Westbrook.

The Oklahoma City Thunder point guard has one of the quickest trigger fingers in the league. If he fails to make smarter decisions with the basketball, the Miami Heat will win the 2012 NBA Finals.

Last season, Westbrook cost the Thunder a shot at a championship berth by going into Marbury-mode. Against the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, he shot a pitiful 36 percent from the field. While his numbers are slightly higher this year, they’re not nearly improved enough to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Through Game 3, Westbrook is shooting just 41.2 percent from the field. From downtown, he’s shooting an embarrassing 21.4 percent. As reckless as Westbrook’s statistics seem, they even look worse when placed next to Kevin Durant’s.

The league’s leading scorer is shooting an eye-opening 55.7 percent from the field against the Heat. Perimeter scorers rarely convert plays at that high of a rate. Despite Durant’s unbelievable efficiency, for some odd reason, Westbrook is still averaging 3.3 more shots per game than him.

Luckily for the Thunder, though, Durant doesn’t sound like he’ll allow that to happen again. After their Game 3 loss, he had something to say about how frequently he’ll shoot for the remainder of the series in the postgame press conference (via NBA on Youtube).

Now, that will only happen if Westbrook passes him the rock.

In the Thunder’s Game 1 win, Westbrook dished out 11 dimes. He followed up that performance by recording 11 assists total in their next two games. When Westbrook looks to get his teammates involved, he’s nearly unstoppable, but when he plays hero ball, his shot selection is the Thunder’s Achilles heel.

There isn’t a more physically gifted point guard in the NBA than Westbrook. He possesses the ability to lead OKC back and defeat the Heat. But that will only happen if plays the role of a floor general and not a one-man wrecking crew.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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