Westbrook triple-doubles again, Thunder lose again

Royce Young -

BOX SCORE

When Damian Lillard cut OKC’s lead to six with 7:20 left, I started bracing myself for the oncoming, inevitable soul-crushing loss. In fact, I typed that sentence out immediately after it happened. Promise.

And the Thunder kept holding, kept holding, kept bouncing back, kept staying in it.

Until it finally happened. We all knew it was coming. Without the Reaper to close, it was just too much to ask of Russell Westbrook to execute time after time with the Thunder defense unable to string together consistent stops. The possessions were scrambled, based mostly around a simple high screen-and-roll action leaving Westbrook to make a choice to attack or pull-up. After Kyle Singler missed a 3 with 3:38 left, here’s how it went for OKC:

  • 3:18: Westbrook and-1 to tie the game at 106-106
  • 2:54: Westbrook 18-foot pull-up missed (good look, though), 106-106
  • 2:26: Westbrook forced baseline jumper missed, 108-106
  • 2:21: Westbrook gets his own rebound and forces in a wild banker, 108-108
  • 1:47: Westbrook two free throws, answering an Aldridge tough baseline fadeaway over Serge Ibaka, 110-110
  • 1:09: D.J. Augustin misses decent looking 3, 110-110
  • 0:33: This was the worst possession of the night I thought. Aldridge had just split free throws and the Thunder were keen on a 2-for-1. Westbrook attacked the paint, was swarmed by three defenders, and tried to force an awkward floater. All air, empty trip, 111-110.
  • 0:06: Westbrook misses the layup out of the timeout which was again, a good set and a pretty decent look. Arron Afflalo made two free throws to make it 113-110, which set off a new chain of stupid events.

The Blazers wanted to take a foul, but Wes Matthews stupidly reached in on Westbrook in the act. So Westbrook went to the line for a third time needing to hit three free throws to tie a game, and after hit six straight in that situation, finally missed. Can you blame him? Second night of a back-to-back, playing your heart out on a sprained ankle, and he front-rimmed it.

But once again, it’s about Westbrook. And no question, I think he forced the issue late. He got tunnel vision a few times and clearly didn’t display full trust in the four guys with him on the floor. It’s what makes Westbrook, Westbrook, and it’s also what makes Westbrook, Westbrook, if you know what I mean. He can 100 percent win you a game — see: Pelicans road game — but he can also play a big part in losing it.

No denying the brilliance, though. A third straight triple-double, this one of the 40-13-11 variety. He turned it over six times, but overall, played a much stronger, sounder game than last night in Phoenix. He shot 32 times, but hit 14, and only took one 3 (at the end of the shot clock, no less). He was fantastic. He was terrific. He was why the Thunder had a chance to win at all. But he also couldn’t make three more right decisions in the critical moments to help close out what could’ve been a large win.

Instead, it’s a second straight loss as the Pelicans gain ground to within half a game. The Thunder play at the Lakers on Sunday, and return home to play the 76ers, so there SHOULD be two bounce back wins in the bag. Still: They were three or four plays away from an impressive back-to-back sweep of the Suns and Blazers, punctuating two magnanimous triple-doubles for Westbrook.

But it’s just not that easy this season, is it?

NOTES:

  • OK, so the bigger issue at hand: Westbrook’s face appeared to get dented in by Andre Roberson’s knee with a few seconds left. Westbrook shook it off and stayed in for the brief time, but if that’s a fracture and extended time out, oh my, it could be all over for the Thunder, for real this time.
  • Westbrook didn’t speak with reporters postgame because the team said he was being evaluated. Or maybe he can’t open his mouth to talk. Thunder officials say an update will be given tomorrow. This is not good news.
  • Step forward, step back. Rinse, repeat. Hashtag, this season.
  • No Enes Kanter tonight who was out with a right thigh contusion. The Thunder didn’t miss him dearly, though, as Mitch McGary stepped up with a career night, 20 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes.
  • Why wasn’t McGary in the game down the stretch? Pretty straightforward, really. He was an issue handling the downhill attacking Damian Lillard in the pick-and-roll, which was a big part in the Portland comeback. So with a lead and Westbrook to (hopefully) carry the load, Scott Brooks prioritized defense over offense, going small to match up.
  • I wrote this note early in the game: Mitch McGary has a bad habit of guarding no one in the pick-and-roll. Gets in no man’s land between a hedge and recovering. He was having a terrific game, but this was an issue late in the game and a reason it made sense to sit him.
  • Here’s the fix that Brooks overlooked: Nick Collison. Still a premier pick-and-roll defender, and an offensive threat, particularly as a passer to cutters. Collison only played 12 minutes as a starter. Big oversight by Brooks, I thought.
  • So on Westbrook: That’s three straight triple-doubles (fifth of the season), the first player to do that since LeBron in 2009.
  • Fun fact: Westbrook’s last game without a triple-double, he had 21-8-17 in 27 minutes. Had he played the fourth, this would be four straight.
  • Westbrook’s back-to-back: 79 points, 27 rebounds, 22 assists.
  • A fact that happened in the game that was influential: The Blazers shot 31 free throws to the Thunder’s 22, with 23 OKC fouls to 14 for Portland.
  • The play the Thunder ran with 11 seconds left was a really good one. Westbrook got to the rim, just couldn’t finish over Aldridge. I figured it was going to be the classic set where the initial simple trigger was shut off and Westbrook fired from 32 feet and snapped his arms down quickly for no reason at all as the ball cruised harmlessly to the ground catching nothing but air. Instead, it was a hard, decision action at the rim that could’ve drawn a foul, or a finish for the win. No issues with that play at all. Just didn’t go in.
  • Kyle Singler makes sure to properly accessorize before each game.
  • Dion Waiters is gonna be the new Perk, isn’t he?
  • Waiters is infuriating, but those horrible long 2s that he hits on occasion? Rather big at times. When Thunder possessions crap out, he’s at least an option to get up a semi-makeable shot.
  • Why can’t Waiters make a layup, though? Like seriously. Why aren’t those going in? Is it because it’s hard to fade away on a layup?
  • Next time someone says the Thunder don’t run any offense, look up the set at the 6:30 mark in the second quarter. BEAUTIFUL offense. Motion set into Horns, with multiple actions, dribble hand-off, then a downscreen by Morrow with a flare for an open 3. Even Gregg Popovich would’ve said “nice” to that one.
  • Morrow had 13 in the first half. Morrow finished the game with 13.
  • Allow me to hindsight: When the Thunder got their stop with 11 seconds left, I would’ve liked to have seen no timeout there, with a transition push. The Thunder only had one timeout anyway, and appeared to have the chance for numbers.
  • People complain about the dumbest things on Twitter. I had one guy asking why Singler was in and not Jones, because why have Singler in if he’s not going to get to shoot?
  • Another thing: Why was Andre Roberson in on the Westbrook free throw situation? I swear, people will criticize Brooks without even thinking. Roberson is one of the best offensive rebounders on the team. It would’ve been dumb to not have him on the floor.
  • The good question is why Roberson on the floor down the stretch? I can see the reasoning: The Blazers were spacing the Thunder to death, putting perimeter players all over. So Brooks wanted his best perimeter defender to try and help (keep in mind, Roberson was on Wes Matthews all night, and Matthews couldn’t get anything clean). Go with Morrow, and you obviously have a spot-up option for Westbrook, like when the ball found Roberson in the corner to which he nearly killed an usher firing over the rim. But it’s hard to know what the other end would’ve looked like. Defense was already an issue for OKC. Sitting Roberson for Morrow might’ve made it worse.
  • LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 29, but I thought Serge Ibaka defended him really well for the most part. Sometimes great players hit great shots. Like that turnaround fade in crunchtime. Ibaka was all over that. Just a super shot by Aldridge.
  • Dumb thing I looked up in the first half: Nick Collison is just 5-25 this season from 15-19 feet.  Last four seasons, he’s shot 45.3% from that range. Kind of a weird drop-off.
  • Note to self: Quit reading Twitter mentions during close, emotional games.
  • My advice is to just take these last two games for what they were: Tough, close, tight, difficult, great games. The Thunder played two solid teams, and came up a handful of plays short in the critical moments. While still missing the best closer in the world. Obviously coming off the seven-game streak this sours things a bit, but maintain perspective here. The Thunder are fine. Well, that is, as long as Westbrook’s face is.

Next up: At the Lakers on Sunday