Harden, Rockets Expose Westbrook's Fatal Flaw in Heated Closeout Game
HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets pulled out all the stops.
Before their series-clinching 105-99 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at home Tuesday, they rolled out $1 hot dogs and beers to lather up the fans and brought out ex-Rocket Vernon Maxwell and hip-hop superstars Bun B and Travis Scott to literally help them try to party their way to the second round of the NBA playoffs.
To add insult to injury, most of the players wore black to the game, as if to signify the Thunder's funeral.
There's nothing worse than being at a party where everyone is celebrating at your expense. With his back against the wall, Russell Westbrook, despite his eye-popping stat line of 47 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, could not do enough to be a buzzkill and extend the series.
"I feel like we got shots that we wanted," Westbrook said. "Obviously, we didn't make all the shots that we needed to, but I think we got the shots we wanted to put ourselves in a position to win a basketball game."
Everyone tuned in for the marquee MVP matchup between Westbrook and James Harden and, for the most part, it did not disappoint.
As expected, Harden played within the creases of the offense, hesitating and luring defenders into a virtual stupor before either kicking it out to his teammates or making his own shot or crafty move to the cup. Harden averaged 33.2 points per game and shot 90.4 percent from the free-throw line for the series.
Westbrook stuck to the script, too, dominating the ball, willing his way into the lane like a freight train going downhill, leaping toward the rim with abandon and gobbling up stats like a Pac-Man possessed. He finished the series averaging 37.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 10.8 assists per game, joining Jason Kidd and Oscar Robertson as the only players to average a triple-double in a single postseason.
But in the end, there was one thing that separated these two superstars. One thing that propelled Harden to the second round and sent Westbrook home.
Trust.
Westbrook had zero trust in his teammates. Harden did. It was as glaring as OKC's need for a dependable second scoring option.
"We didn't particularly shoot the ball well, maybe one game out of the five games, but we found other ways to win," Harden said. "Building from the summer, the togetherness that we were building and then the trust that we built paid off. Everything isn't always going to be perfect. You've got guys that step up and help you make big plays, always have your back. Even nights when I'm struggling, I'm not really worried. I know I got a group of guys that trust in themselves and their leader to go out there and play the right way and good things will happen."
Harden, who finished with 34 points, eight rebounds and four assists, put faith in his teammates down the stretch. Guys like Nene, Eric Gordon and Lou Williams performed some of the heavy lifting when Harden wasn't as effective as usual.
"Just being around him these past few months, seeing the way that he approaches the game, seeing the way he leads everybody by example and goes about his business, it makes it easy for me to come in and give whatever he needs from a support standpoint," said Williams, who finished with a playoff career-high-tying 22 points off the bench.
Westbrook, on the other hand, had no one else to lean on. With Kevin Durant's departure over the summer, Westbrook set out to prove his doubters wrong, making history after escaping his former teammate's shadow and putting the team on his back.
Westbrook's unbelievable triple-double season made him a true great and all but guaranteed that he'll take home the Maurice Podoloff Trophy in June as the league's most valuable player.
But it's also what did him and his team in.
Westbrook's postgame presser notwithstanding, his "move out of my way, let me do it all" style of play stunted the growth of his supporting cast. Players like Jerami Grant and Victor Oladipo didn't have an opportunity to grow into reliable scoring options.
The Thunder lived and died by their leader's ball-dominant ways all season, so it was no surprise that their campaign slipped away in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets' victory bash turned Westbrook's solo shindig into his last stand: a first-round exit.
With Westbrook on the bench, the Rockets went on a 14-4 run. To stop the bleeding, Westbrook re-entered the game at the 9:15 mark in the fourth. Up until that point, the Thunder were plus-11 in 33 minutes with Westbrook and minus-16 in six minutes without him.
In that last nine-minute stretch, though, Westbrook chucked and chucked and chucked, virtually shooting his team out of the game. All told, he was a ghastly 2-of-11 from the field in the fourth quarter Tuesday night (0-of-5 from three) and a combined 14-of-49 (28.6 percent) in the fourth for the series.
Asked about his horrid fourth-quarter shooting percentage, Westbrook said of his shots: "I liked them."
"That's what you have to do with a team like that whose point guard is extremely dynamic," Trevor Ariza said. "You have to try to make him take tough shots and make him take deep shots. Eventually they wore down and we were able to get the win."
Neither head coach Billy Donovan nor Westbrook would admit to fatigue's playing a factor or the Rockets' late-game defensive efforts making him miss, but whatever the cause, his efficiency rate fell apart like wet tissue paper in the fourth quarter.
"It was a challenge for me because there's a balance between getting him sufficient enough rest," Donovan said. "In both the first and the third, I didn't play him the entire quarter. I think when you look at his minutes being right around 42, he's not going to shoot the ball sometimes particularly well."
For comparison's sake, prior to Game 5, Harden was 10-of-18 in the fourth quarter for the series for an effective field-goal percentage of 69.4. Westbrook was 12-of-38 for an eFG percentage of 36.8. Harden's offensive rating was 129.5, his usage percentage was 42.8 and his plus/minus was plus-27. Westbrook's was 91.8, 59.6 and minus-24, respectively.
"Russell's not an excuse-maker, and I'm not here to make an excuse for Russell, but he has been a phenomenal closer for us all year long," Donovan said. "Russell didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but we're not up seven if not for him. You can't expect a guy to be perfect every single time. What he's done this year has been historic. He gave us a chance every single night."
The heated exchange between Westbrook and Patrick Beverley highlighted one of the reasons the MVP candidate's late-game penchant for hero ball repeatedly fell short.
"He's a really good player; he applies a lot of pressure just due to his athleticism, his creating ability," said Beverley, who held Westbrook to a 37.3 eFG percentage versus a 45.7 eFG percentage when he's not defending him. "But he shocked me because he looked up and said 'no one can guard me.' I got 40 points. And I said 'that's nice, it took 34 shots to get it.' I'm not up here trying to bash anybody, but I mean, men lie, women lie, numbers don't. Collectively, as a unit, we've done a great job on him, we tried to make him him shoot a lot of tough shots, and the numbers show it."
Not surprisingly, Westbrook had an entirely different take on his confrontation with Beverley.
"He was talking about he was first-team all-defense, but I didn't know what the hell he was talking about because I had 42 at the time," Westbrook said. "I don't know what he was talking about. Maybe he was dreaming or some s--t."
The jury's still out on whether Beverley will make any of the all-defense teams, but one thing's for sure: Westbrook's dream of winning a championship will have to wait while Harden—who was able to unite his team under a new head coach, incorporate new players and thrive in his new role as point guard, and his cooking dance—dances on.
"I've been excited all year long, from the coaching staff on down to each individual player," Harden said. "The excitement is there, the togetherness is there and we showed it in this first round. The second round is going to be even tougher. Either opponent is tough in their own way. I'm ready to go to war with these guys."
