Friday NBA Roundup: James Harden, Russell Westbrook Mask Teams' Flaws
With just over two minutes to go in overtime and the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls tied at 115, James Harden climbed onto Michael Carter-Williams' back and drew a foul...on Carter-Williams:
Perhaps the Rockets' All-Star just needed a break. After all, he'd been carrying Houston all night and would continue—to the tune of 42 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists—until his squad had wrapped up a 121-117 win over the Bulls.
One state to the north, Russell Westbrook was putting plenty of strain on his own spine. Another night, another triple-double (38 PTS, 13 REB, 12 AST) and another much-needed win for the Oklahoma City Thunder, this time over the Memphis Grizzlies, 114-102.
As has often been the case during the 2016-17 season, especially of late, the Rockets and Thunder needed their respective MVP candidates to kick it up another notch in support of their incomplete squads.
For a time, Houston looked like it wouldn't need a superhuman effort from Harden to hold off Chicago. The Bulls were up against it from the get-go, with Jimmy Butler sidelined by a left heel contusion. The Rockets pounced on that weakness, rushing out to a 57-40 lead on one of Harden's five triples with 2:49 left in the second quarter.
Chicago closed the gap to 11 by halftime, but surely Yao Ming's jersey retirement would give Houston the emotional boost needed to put the discombobulated Bulls out of their misery.
The Bulls, though, bullied their way back into a lead by the 4:05 mark of the third quarter and were up by eight points with 3:19 left in the fourth. If not for a smattering of missed shots and turnovers in isolation down the stretch from Dwyane Wade (19 PTS, 9 REB, 6 AST), Chicago would've handed Houston its second home loss in as many nights and its ninth defeat during its last 14 games overall.
Instead, the Rockets escaped the Toyota Center with a W, despite suffering through Ryan Anderson's second scoreless night in the past two weeks, losing crucial battles on the boards (53-48) and in the paint (60-46), and giving up 48 percent shooting to the team with the league's fourth-worst collective field-goal percentage.
Who knows how bad it would've been in Houston had Eric Gordon, the odds-on favorite for Sixth Man of the Year honors, not chipped in 21 points off the pine?
Granted, defense and rebounding have not been strong suits for the Rockets all season. By most measures, Houston has been in the middle of the pack (or worse) when it comes to getting stops and securing opponents' misses:
| Defensive Efficiency | 105.8 | 17th |
| Defensive Rebound Percentage | 76.5% | 15th |
| Opponent Effective Field-Goal Percentage | 51.8% | 23rd |
If the Rockets peered into a funhouse mirror, they'd see a season much like the one the Thunder have put together.
The comparison between Harden and Westbrook is easy to draw. The former OKC teammates have both torn through the NBA and are the league's top-two triple-doublers.
Westbrook added to his jaw-dropping tally with an Association-best 25th trip-dub against Memphis. With one more, he'll tie Oscar Robertson for the third-most in a single season.
But beyond Westbrook, the Thunder can barely buy a bucket. OKC has averaged 106.9 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor—a would-be top-10 mark—and just 96.7 without him, well below the 99.3 the 30th-ranked Philadelphia 76ers squeeze out from night to night.
That gap has widened into a Grand Canyon-sized chasm since Enes Kanter purposely smashed his forearm against an unassuming chair. Through four games without their second-unit stalwart, the Thunder have mustered a mere 74.3 points per 100 possessions when Westbrook's gotten a breather.
Victor Oladipo, Andre Roberson and Domantas Sabonis—all starters—combined for as many points (15) as Anthony Morrow chipped in off the bench Friday.
Fortunately for OKC, its best remaining bigs came to play. Neither Steven Adams nor Kanter's stand-in, Joffrey Lauvergne, could stop Marc Gasol (31 points, 4 REB, 8 AST) or Zach Randolph (16 PTS, 10 REB). But both came through with 16 points—fewer than the 19 Westbrook had in the fourth quarter alone.
Even if Kanter can't play until late March, the Thunder should have enough to hang onto a playoff spot out West. At 29-22 and in seventh place, they sit six games ahead of the eighth-placed Denver Nuggets.
As for the Rockets, they look good for a top-four spot. They're four games up on the Chris Paul-less Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz, who share the same record (31-19) in a virtual tie for the No. 4 seed.
But how long can Houston ride Harden this hard before he runs out of gas? Similarly, Westbrook may be the first player since the Big O to average a triple-double for a season, but at what cost to him and OKC in the long run?
These two clubs have put their respective superstars in line for some serious hardware and lent plenty of intrigue to the regular season as a result. Just don't expect either to extend that excitement long into the playoffs, against more complete behemoths like the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, without first addressing its deepest flaws.
The Kids Are No Joke
Rust, shmust. After missing three games with a hip injury, Nikola Jokic returned to the Denver Nuggets' lineup with his finest NBA performance yet. The Serbian sensation sauntered his way to 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for his career-first triple-double to help Denver fend off the Milwaukee Bucks, 121-117.
Jokic did most of his damage before the break. He had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists at the half to put the Nuggets ahead 70-53.
"I hope the people of Denver and fans of this team realize just how special [Jokic] is," Nuggets veteran Mike Miller said, per the team's Twitter account.
Not to be outdone, the Bucks' own brilliant youngsters came alive during the final two frames. Jabari Parker caught fire for 23 of his game-high 27 points between the third and fourth quarters. Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks by the time the clock hit zeros.
That dynamic duo gives Milwaukee one of the firmest long-term foundations you'll find in the Eastern Conference, if not the entire league. With Khris Middleton due back from a severe hamstring injury next week, the Bucks could barge their way back into the East's top eight by season's end.
The Nuggets are there now out West, one game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers for the conference's last spot. So long as Jokic is simultaneously setting up and drawing attention away from the likes of Wilson Chandler (23 PTS, 8 REB), Kenneth Faried (19 PTS, 11 REB), rookie Jamal Murray (18 PTS) and the injured Danilo Gallinari, Denver could finish well ahead of where it figured to be amid its own rebuild.
IT (Almost) Makes History
No Celtic—not one of the 28 currently in the Hall of Fame, nor any of the ones (i.e. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen) soon to join them—had ever tallied 40 points or more in three straight games with Boston.
Isaiah Thomas came oh-so-close to becoming Beantown's first to put together that kind of scoring run. He once again went bonkers in the fourth quarter, torching the defenseless Los Angeles Lakers for 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting during the final frame to secure a 113-107 win for the Boston Celtics.
Had Thomas made just one more of his 24 shots, he would've notched his third straight 40-point outing, after torching the Detroit Pistons for 41 on Monday and piling up 44 at the Toronto Raptors' expense Wednesday. Instead, he had to settle for 38 in just as many minutes.
Not that Thomas or the Celtics would likely mind the slight shortfall, though the diminutive guard would appreciate an All-Star assist from head coach Brad Stevens, who will oversee the Eastern Conference squad in a couple weeks.
"He should put me in the starting lineup," Thomas said, per Bleacher Report's Michael Pina.
Stevens can't sub out Kyrie Irving or DeMar DeRozan, but he can appreciate all his All-Star has done for Boston. The Celtics have won six straight, with Thomas scoring 37 or more in five of them, and now sit all alone in second place in the East, just two games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
In the grander scheme of NBA history in which the Cs so often operate, they can claim a 3,253-3,252 edge over the Lakers in all-time regular-season wins.
Toronto's Tailspin Continues
As bad as things have been for the Cavaliers of late, they could always be worse; the Cavs could be the Toronto Raptors.
Last year's runner-up in the Eastern Conference now finds itself on the verge of losing any slice of postseason home-court advantage after suffering a 102-94 loss to the Orlando Magic. Kyle Lowry, Norman Powell and Jonas Valanciunas scored 18 points apiece, but absent any scoring support from the other starters (Patrick Patterson and DeMarre Carroll combined to shoot 0-of-4 from the field without a free-throw attempt), the Raptors couldn't muster enough offense to outscore even the league's second-worst attack.
"You can't score 12 points in the third quarter and expect to beat anybody in this league," head coach Dwane Casey lamented, per Basketball Insiders' Cody Taylor.
It didn't help that Patterson, who's already missed 11 games with knee troubles this season, left just seven minutes in after suffering a left knee contusion. Nor could Toronto make up for the absence of DeMar DeRozan (swollen ankle) for a third straight contest.
The league hasn't shown the Raptors any mercy for their woes. In truth, those go beyond their most recent physical troubles.
Toronto has dropped eight of its last 10 outings and now sits just a half-game ahead of the fifth-placed Atlanta Hawks.
Yogi's Big Picnic
The Dallas Mavericks are as motley a crew as you’ll find in the NBA today, with no member more so than Yogi Ferrell.
On a 10-day contract, the rookie out of Indiana was the star of the Dallas Mavericks’ 108-104 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Ferrell finished with a career-high 32 points, none bigger than the three he earned on his ninth triple of the night—an ice job up top to give Dallas a 105-101 lead with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
"It was a groove where every shot I took felt like it was going in," Ferrell said, per Mavs.com's Earl K. Sneed.
Since joining Dallas in late January, Ferrell has averaged 17.8 points and 5.0 assists while draining 52.0 percent of his threes. More importantly, the Mavericks have won all four of his starts en route to their longest streak of the season. It may be just a matter of time until Ferrell inks a second 10-day contract in Dallas—if not a deal to keep him around for the rest of the 2016-17 season.
Boogie Can't Book It
DeMarcus Cousins needed less than three full quarters to secure a triple-double—his second of the season and sixth of his pro career—against the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
The Sacramento Kings, though, could’ve used just a bit more from their All-Star center than the 22 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists with which Boogie finished. Devin Booker responded to Cousins’ 12th assist (a game-tying 15-footer from Darren Collison) with a 20-foot bank shot to beat the buzzer and give Phoenix a 105-103 win.
Booker exploded for a game-high 33 points, extending his streak of 20-point performances to 15 games. Eric Bledsoe added 20 points of his own, and T.J. Warren chipped in 21 off the wing.
The win snapped a five-game Suns skid. The Kings, on the other hand, dropped their third in a row, with four straight home dates against playoff teams (the Warriors, Bulls, Celtics and Hawks) coming up.
Friday's Final Scores
- Orlando Magic 102, Toronto Raptors 94
- Detroit Pistons 116, Minnesota Timberwolves 108
- Indiana Pacers 106, Brooklyn Nets 97
- Boston Celtics 113, Los Angeles Lakers 107
- Houston Rockets 121, Chicago Bulls 117
- Oklahoma City Thunder 114, Memphis Grizzlies 102
- Denver Nuggets 121, Milwaukee Bucks 117
- Dallas Mavericks 108, Portland Trail Blazers 104
- Phoenix Suns 105, Sacramento Kings 103
All stats and salary information via NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
Josh Martin covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and listen to his Hollywood Hoops podcast with B/R Lakers lead writer Eric Pincus.
