8:00 PM EST, TNT – Line: Rockets -7.5, Over/Under: 224
After averaging a Triple-Double during the season, Westbrook couldn’t carry the Thunder to victory in Game One, scoring 22 points on a poor 6-of-23 shooting with 9 turnovers.
Expect fireworks tonight at the Toyota Center, as the Houston Rockets host the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Two of the First Round of the NBA Playoffs, with the aim of taking a commanding two-game lead before the series shifts north. With the Postseason unfolding over the past weekend, the matchup that perhaps offered the most entertainment value was between these two teams, as the league’s top two MVP candidates square off in what many believe will ultimately decide who wins the league’s most prestigious individual award. However, all that matters now is advancing to the next round, which admittedly must be hard to fathom if you happen to be a Thunder (47-35, 6th in Western Conference) fan at the moment, particularly after Sunday’s 118-87 beatdown. Granted, one game does not make a series, but if you’ve watched this team play throughout the course of the campaign, you could probably see this coming for months now; as Russell Westbrook (31.6 PTS, 42.5% FG, 34.3% 3FG, 10.7 REB, 10.4 AST, 1.6 STL) continues to amaze, his supporting cast is hardly up to task, which was painfully obvious in Game One. Let’s put it this way, Russ was typical Russ, scoring a team-best twenty-two points, while totaling eleven rebounds, seven assists, and a pair of steals, but was far from efficient (6-of-23, 26.1%shooting) and turned the ball over a maddening nine times. However, the rest of the Billy Donovan’s charges left a lot to be desired, with only Andre Roberson (6.6 PTS, 46.5% FG, 5.1 REB, 1.0 AST, 1.2 STL) scoring in double-figures. Simply put, this is not what Oklahoma City envisioned when they attempted to fill the massive void left by Kevin Durant, who they helplessly watched leave in Free Agency. How about Victor Oladipo (15.9 PTS, 44.2% FG, 36.1% 3FG, 4.3 REB, 2.6 AST, 1. STL), whom they acquired on Draft Day in the Serge Ibaka Trade? The young Guard looked like the proverbial deer in the headlights, scoring just six points on a miserable 1-of-12 shooting from the field (08.3%), including 0-of-6 from downtown (0.00%) in his first Playoff outing. Or what about the twin towers Steven Adams (11.3 PTS, 57.0% FG, 7.7 REB, 1.1 AST, 1.1 STL, 1.0 BLK) and Enes Kanter (14.3 PTS, 54.5% FG, 6.7 REB), whom Donovan continues to avoid playing together? They once again underwhelmed, combining for fourteen points on 6-of-13 shooting (46.2%), with eight rebounds and a block. Maybe the pair of former Bulls they acquired at the Trade Deadline could provide a spark? You’d be disappointed if you were referring to Taj Gibson (9.0 PTS, 49.7% FG, 4.5 REB) and Doug McDermott (6.6 PTS, 45.2% FG, 36.2% 3FG, 2.2 REB), with the former posting five points, a rebound, and an assist in just over twenty minutes of play, while the latter could only get on the court for nearly three minutes despite the game being well out of hand in the latter stages of the Third Quarter. The morale of this tale, folks, is that the Thunder have proven all year to be very little other than Westbrook, so why should that change in the Playoffs? We’ve harped on it time and time again in this column, but this team has absolutely whiffed on replacing their lost stars over the past five months, and as a result have relied far too heavily on his herculean efforts. Basically, if he doesn’t put together a Triple-Double, they’re hard-pressed to even win a game. During the Regular Season, the six-time All-Star racked up a single season record forty-two trifectas, and in those games Oklahoma City was a staggering 33-12 opposed to a dismal 13-23 when he wasn’t able to reach that lofty threshold. For this team to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole, this team needs to borrow a page from the Chicago Bulls, who have been bullying the Boston Celtics over on the Eastern Conference side of the bracket; Chicago has dominated the glass in the first two games of their series with Boston, and there’s really no reason as to why these guys can’t do the same, for they led the entire in league in Rebounds (46.6), including Offensive Rebounds (12.2), and Offensive Rebounding Percentage (28.0%), while ranking third in Defensive Rebounding Percentage (79.0%), and besting their opponents by an average margin of 5.9 boards a night. Granted, it’s difficult to get rebounds when the other team doesn’t miss much, but the Thunder must be more active around the rim if they wish extend this series past this weekend.
Harden overcame early shooting woes, yet still wound up with 37 points by the end of Game One, as his less-heralded teammates more than made up the difference throughout the contest.
Meanwhile, the resurrection of the Rockets (55-27, 3rd in Western Conference) has carried over into the Playoffs, after demoralizing the Thunder in Game One. Though they trailed 29-27 after the first stanza, the hosts distanced themselves more and more as the game progressed, outscoring the visiting side 62-45 in the following two frames, before knocking them out 29-13 in the final Quarter of play. However, what must make the remainder of this series truly frightening for their opposition is the fact that Houston was far from lights out on the offensive end of the court, knocking down just ten of their thirty-three treys (30.3%), and finishing well below their season averages in assists (twenty-one) and free-throws attempted (twenty-three). With that said, Mike D’Antoni’s beat their counterparts at their own game: on the glass. Simply put, the home side destroyed their northern opponents on the boards, establishing a chasm-like 56-41 advantage, while pulling down fourteen offensive rebounds, which led to a wealth of second-chance opportunities in the paint. That is precisely how a team that sets an NBA single-season record for three-pointers made (1,181) and attempted (3,306) manages to win a game by a staggering thirty-one points despite missing twenty-three of their shots from downtown; the Rockets tormented the Thunder in the Paint, outscoring them 62-38 in that particular area, receiving solid performances from big men Clint Capella (12.6 PTS, 64.3% FG, 8.1 REB, 1.0 AST, 1.2 BLK) and Nene (9.1 PTS, 61.7% FG, 4.2 REB, 1.0 AST), who accounted for a cumulative twenty-nine points on 15-of-29 shooting from the field (51.7%), two assists, a steal, and three blocks. Furthermore, Patrick Beverley (9.5 PTS, 42.0% FG, 38.3% 3FG, 5.9 REB, 4.2 AST, 1.5 STL), who can be best described as being primarily a pest on the defensive end of the floor, picked a fine time to turn a postseason career-high twenty-one points on 8-of-13 shooting (61.5%), including a scorching 4-of-6 from beyond the arc (66.7%). And at the end of the day, that was arguably the most stark contrast between these two adversaries: while the Thunder floundered without support for the aforementioned Westbrook, his main competition in the MVP race, James Harden (29.1 PTS, 44.0% FG, 34.7% 3FG, 8.1 REB, 11.2 AST, 1.5 STL), basked in the support he received from his teammates. But don’t get it confused, for the bearded one definitely staked his claim for the award Sunday, overcoming a slow start to score a game-high thirty-seven points on 13-of-28 shooting from the field (46.4%), including 3-of-11 from three (27.3%), along with seven rebounds, nine assists, and three steals. Though derided by many during the offseason, Harden’s transition to Point Guard has been a revelation in Houston, as the former scoring champion has absolutely thrived in a playmaking role in D’Antoni’s wide-open system; the five-time All-Star led the league in assists (11.2), while pumping out a career-high (though a distant second to Russ) twenty-two triple-doubles. The major criticism of D’Antoni’s teams in the past has always been their lack of effort on the defensive end of the court, and while the Rockets were rather mediocre in this respect, they absolutely shut down the Thunder in Game One, relegating them to a scant 37.0% shooting from the field, including 9-of-29 from beyond the arc (31.0%), while limiting their damage from the charity stripe (18-of-23), and slowing down their ball movement (nineteen assists allowed), while harassing them into fifteen turnovers, which led to fourteen points going the other way. Apart from missing a bunch of three-pointers, the only thing they managed to struggle with was get out in transition; the home side was outscored 16-6 in terms of Fast Break Points, which really makes one wonder, just how the hell Oklahoma City is going to fare when these guys start knocking down shots from the perimeter and scoring in the open court. Brace yourself, folks. This series may not last much longer…