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Oklahoma City Thunder: Five Positives from Houston Heart-Breaker

By Tony Heim

Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a play against the Houston Rockets during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a play against the Houston Rockets during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a play against the Houston Rockets during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena.  Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a play against the Houston Rockets during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena.  Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

When ranking the OKC Thunder losses through the first 23 games, Friday night’s 102-99 loss to the Rockets was easily the one that hurt the least.

Losing stinks. Just ask Russell Westbrook. The OKC Thunder superstar (that’s right Mark Cuban) took last night’s loss especially hard, and rightfully so. Despite putting up his seventh straight triple-double, Russ had a rough night according to his standards.

Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket in front of Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (2) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) drives to the basket in front of Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (2) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

Russ finished the night with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists which are all below his current season averages. He shot 8-25 from the field and 0-7 from three; Patrick Beverley did a marvelous job on the 1/4 season MVP.

The shooting woes didn’t end with Russ though. As a team, the Thunder shot 42% from the field (4 percentage points below their season average) and 7-28 from three. When you’re playing a team with the offensive firepower of the Rockets, it’s going to be real difficult to win ball games.

Even with all this negativity, I came out of last night’s game fairly positive. The Thunder were bound to lose eventually, and it’s no small feat to hold a Houston team to 102 points. Remember, the Rockets just beat Golden State in the Oracle. They’re good folks.

So let’s turn those frowns upside down and look at the positives from last night’s loss.

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