OKC Thunder star Russell Westbrook made the right play yet, critics continue to ostracize him
How quickly we forget
Yes, Westbrook had seven turnovers but he also posted 20 points (8-16 shooting, 2-7 from three, 2-5 from the line), six rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocks in 38 minutes. Turnovers are definitely an area of the game he has struggled with recently but do we ignore what he did to put OKC in a position to win? The Brodie managed two huge steals in the final 70 seconds to give Oklahoma City a chance.
Russ played the passing lane and stripped Davis on the way to the bucket for an easy lay-in.
On the very next play, Westbrook helps on the weak side to poke the ball away from Pels guard Jrue Holiday. Steven Adams recovers the ball, fires a half-court pass to PG who finishes at the rim for an and-1.
Before we crucify Russ for the things he didn’t do well, we must look at the big picture and acknowledge his positive contributions to the result. Without those two plays above, OKC had no chance at walking away with the W
Big Picture
While Oklahoma City dropped to 17-9 on the season, there were two big takeaways:
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- Russ’ willingness to run plays in the dying seconds
Billy Donovan has done a tremendous job coaching this team thus far, successfully molding them into a defensive minded squad while incorporating more ball movement into its offense. One of Russ’ biggest criticisms was his inconsistency seeing the floor and jacking up ill advised shots. Fast forward to 2018-19 and the Brodie has improved exponentially as a floor general.
dark. Next. Thunder Week that was – Top 10 plays from Eastern trip
Westbrook will never be Chris Paul so we should stop expecting him to be.