Thunderous Intentions
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Rockets Outlast Thunder, Westbrook Records Seventh Straight Trip-Dub

By Rich Condon

Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) shoots the ball over Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) 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) shoots the ball over Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) 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 center Steven Adams (12) passes the ball in front of Houston Rockets forward Montrezl Harrell (5) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) passes the ball in front of Houston Rockets forward Montrezl Harrell (5) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

Former Thunder Buddy James Harden and the Houston Rockets rolled into town and defeated the OKC Thunder 102-99 on Friday night at the Peake.

The score was a lot closer than it should’ve been as the OKC Thunder had no business winning this game. For a majority of the night they seemed disengaged and lethargic. Yes, Russell Westbrook has joined Michael Jordan and Oscar Robinson posting his 7th straight triple-double, but aside from a hot few minutes in the fourth, Russ had a bad night.

He was harassed by Patrick Beverly all night long, as he shot 8-25 from the field and had 8 turnovers. Russell was also 0-7 from three-point range, including an extremely questionable three-point attempt on the second to last possession of the night, but we’ll get to that.

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The lone bright spot for the Thunder, especially early, as he was mysteriously absent late, was Steven Adams. Adams shot 8-9 from both the field and the line, finishing the night with 24 points, a new career high, and 10 rebounds. The rebounds were particularly nice to see as Adams had been averaging 6.9 boards a night coming into this one. The pick-and-roll between Adams and Russ was working, highlighted by a back-to-back pair of alley-oops with Adams rolling to the hoop with thunderous intentions (see what I did there?)

Like I said previously, Billy Donovan went away from his big man in the second half, and elected to go super small with a lineup of Russ, Oladipo (who was extremely quiet tonight: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 38% from the field), Anthony Morrow, Andre Roberson, and Jerami Grant at the five.

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Yes, Jerami Grant played center for the Thunder this evening, and with his ridiculous vertical, he wasn’t awful. Granted, this is an extremely situational look for the Thunder, but it’s one I would like to see more of. In another curious lineup decision, Joffrey Lauvergne picked up a DNP-CD this evening.

The Thunder were extremely sloppy with the ball all evening, particularly in the first half where a significant number of passes were fumbled or sailed out of bounds. They finished the game with 18 turnovers, and the Rockets capitalized on their mistakes, scoring 29 points off Thunder miscues.

Surprisingly, both teams combined for only 26 fast break points, and even worse the Thunder only had 8, which is even more puzzling when you consider the fact that the Thunder didn’t have a big man on the court for a good portion of the fourth quarter.

Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Semaj Christon (6) drives to the basket in front of Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon (10) and center Nene Hilario (42) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 9, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Semaj Christon (6) drives to the basket in front of Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon (10) and center Nene Hilario (42) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

The OKC Thunder got outworked in a few areas of the game tonight, none more prevalent than on the offensive glass, where the Rockets had a 16-9 advantage, and the Rockets bench outscored the Thunder bench 44-24. Both teams shot the ball poorly (39% for the Rockets, 42% for the Thunder), especially from three-point range (26% for Houston, 25% for OKC.) This was a real ugly game to watch, and there were far too many deliberate attempts at trying to draw fouls by both teams.

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The Thunder trailed by 9 entering the final frame, and when Russell came back in they started to finally show some signs of life, with Russell shouldering the load offensively, and Jerami Grant anchoring the defense with three key blocks down the stretch.

OKC cut the lead to one, but that was as close as they would get. The last two possessions by the Thunder, however, were baffling. There’s no excuse for Russell taking a three pointer with 6 seconds left in a one-point game, especially not when he missed every 3-pointer he took this evening.

After fouling Trevor Ariza, who made both free throws, the Thunder needed the three to force overtime. Victor Oladipo had trouble inbounding the ball, and Anthony Morrow missed the final shot of the game, sealing the win for the Rockets.

The OKC Thunder will hope to rebound against the Boston Celtics on Sunday.

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