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Former teammates Russell Westbrook and James Harden are the frontrunners for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award this season.
Westbrook, averaging a triple-double, led the sixth-seeded Thunder into Houston to take on the Western Conference’s third-seeded Rockets this past Sunday.
He also entered leading the league in scoring – while shooting a career high in three-point percentage – and third in assists.
Harden came in leading the league in assists, and also averaging nearly 30 points and eight rebounds per game.
Westbrook’s season long tear is nearing its culmination. If he does finish the season averaging a triple-double, it will be the first time that has been accomplished in over 50 years.
Once the game tipped off, it went about as expected. Houston led at the end of the first, 37-31, and every other quarter of the game.
The Rockets shot the lights out, at 63 per cent for the game, and hit 20 threes on only 39 attempts – all without their sharp shooting power forward Ryan Anderson. The game ended 137-125, and showed the world how Russell Westbrook’s supporting cast compared to Harden’s.
It was no contest.
The Beard played well, racking up 22 points, 11 assists, and 5 boards, but based on his standards he didn’t have a phenomenal game. His teammates on the other hand, played about as well as they possibly could.
Trevor Ariza shot 9-11 and ended with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. Lou Williams poured in 31 points off the bench, on 11-15 from the field and 7-8 from behind the arc. Not to mention Clint Capela and Nene combined for 28 points and 13 rebounds, while shooting 12-15.
The play of Harden’s supporting cast, elevated by his ability to draw the defence in before dishing to his teammates for open looks, lifted the Rockets to a victory which at times seemed all but guaranteed.
Russell Westbrook recorded yet another triple-double, with 39 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds, his teammates just couldn’t keep up with Harden’s.
OKC shot the three at a higher percentage than their season average, but still only converted 11 of 30 attempts. They even outrebounded the Rockets by six, with 16 of their 42 boards coming on the offensive end, but in the end this game drove home the notion that the Thunder just do not have the personnel to compete with the elite teams in the West.
Oklahoma City’s rotation lacks the element which drives the elite teams of the modern NBA, perimeter shooting.
Russell Westbrook can drive and dish with the best of them, but when he’s dishing to Andre Roberson and Victor Oladipo, there is only so much that can be done. In fact, the team’s best perimeter shooter – midseason acquisition Doug McDermott – played a measly five minutes in Sunday’s loss.
Meanwhile, James Harden is slicing through defences and finding the likes of a rejuvenated Eric Gordon, the ever-reliable Trevor Ariza, and Ryan Anderson.
Due in large part to that talent disparity, the Rockets are shooting a higher percentage and have shot a higher volume of three pointers than the Thunder for the season.
Many are quick to point out how teams that “live by the three” are forced to “die by the three” when the shots are simply not falling, but what we saw on Sunday is what happens when they are falling. Teams like OKC are forced to try and play catch up and hope that the Rockets have an off night, if they match up in the playoffs – which if the season ended Monday they would.
Houston is a better team than the Thunder, plain and simple. They have better shooters, which means better floor spacing, which means easier offense all around.
The Rockets, led by James Harden and the offensive guru that is Mike D’Antoni, are a fun to watch team which can thrive in today’s NBA.
The Thunder, driven on and off the court by a superstar scorned by the sudden departure of his former partner in crime and even by the all-star voting process, are a rough around the edges, inside-out team.
If Westbrook’s triple-double average isn’t enough to guarantee him the MVP, his ability to will his team bereft of shooting to the playoffs certainly should.
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