OKC Thunder: Regrading Russell Westbrook trade to Rockets – one year later
Russell Westbrook shows Houston why he’s worth the hype
Yet, the micro ball system proved to be a catalyst to unlocking Russ’ gifts. With the team now also fully committed to fast breaks and keeping the pace brisk while opening up space on the floor he’s flourished.
After three consecutive seasons of averaging a triple-double one of the biggest questions tied to the trade is how playing alongside James Harden who is a ball-dominant guard would affect Westbrook’s numbers. Contrary to popular opinion it hasn’t had as large as an impact as expected. Through 53 games (The Rockets are resting him in one game of back-to-back sets) he’s averaging 27.5 points (+4.6), 8.0 rebounds (-3.1), and 7.0 assists (-3.7).
Note — the brackets note the difference over his stat totals from last season.
As for Harden, his stats are down but only ever so slightly with averages of 34.4 points (-1.7), 6.4 rebounds (-0.2), 7.4 assists (-0.1).
Impressively, Westbrook’s last 34 games before the suspension featured consecutive 20 points (or more) scoring efforts on 50.9 field goal percentage. He’s shooting the best field goal percentage of his career (47.4%) and it’s not remotely close.
light. Related Story. Comparing Westbrook small ball success vs Thunder system
The biggest shift for Westbrook since the trade deadline when the Rockets went uber small is he’s taking only 2.4 triples per match and connecting on a robust 38.5 percent.
On the season, the one immediate positive impact the Brodie had on the Rockets is they became a team that played with pace. Last season the Rockets ran the 27th ranked pace (98.39).
In this campaign, they’ve ranked as high as first and no lower than fourth. The pace accelerated as high as a blistering 110.0 but the Rockets weren’t necessarily equating that speed into wins so they found a happy medium and entering the bubble ranked fourth on a pace of 103.4 consequently their slowest pace of the season.