Thunder get completely shredded by the Rockets in Houston
By Yams
In the battle of the two MVP candidates Russell Westbrook and James Harden, the OKC Thunder get badly beaten by the Houston Rockets in a game that was never in doubt.
The Thunder started the game out 0-5 from the field, and Houston stormed out to a quick 9-0 lead. Oklahoma City got within two later in the first quarter, but the game never got any closer. Domantas Sabonis‘ buzzer-beating putback to end the first was called off, and the Thunder ended the first quarter down 37-31.
Houston kept on scoring, and scoring and scoring. They outscored the Thunder 42-28 in the second, and entered halftime up 20.
Oklahoma City started the third with a quick 11-3 run to cut the deficit to 82-70. However, that was as close as they would ever get in the third quarter. Houston extended the lead to 25 points with 2 minutes to go in the third, and ended the quarter with a James Harden buzzer-beating three.
The fourth quarter provided an extremely slim glimmer of hope though.
The Thunder started the fourth on a quick 7-0 run, and started getting back into the game ever so slightly. But Houston would strike back every time OKC would start a run. It was a back-and-forth of sorts.
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Houston was hit with a late-game barrage led by Russell Westbrook to get the game within 8. But alas, it never got any closer. The Thunder lost by a final score of 137-125. It was, in a way, abusive for a Thunder fan to see. Especially with how the fourth quarter went down.
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If you’re looking for any positives, I’m sorry. The only two are the fact that the Thunder shot 50% from the field and the fact that they dominated the boards yet again. Other than that, it was an all-around putrid game.
The Rockets shot 63.3% from the field. SIXTY THREE POINT FLIPPING THREE. They also shot 51.3% from 3 on 39 attempts. Honestly, only Enes Kanter and Russell Westbrook showed up to this game. Kanter had 23 points on 9/12 shooting and Russ had a 39-13-11 statline on 54% shooting. The rest of the team combined to shoot a mere 43.1%, which is subpar.
Defensively, OKC was a complete mess. They allowed the Rockets to score at complete will. It was a gutless effort by most of the players, honestly. You cannot let that happen, not least against a team like the Houston Rockets.
The Thunder next face the Mavericks tomorrow, 8:30 PM ET.