The Thunder have played relatively well against Harden this season, holding him to 20.5 points per game on 34 percent shooting in the four meetings.
Houston finished the season with 1,081 3s to break the National Basketball Association record for 3-pointers in a season set by Golden State last season.
I don't know who will win the series. He's shooting, ball-handling, watching film. (He does, by the way.) It's all part of the complexity of Westbrook, his public lifestyle alongside his privatized emotional makeup. The rightful victor is the James "The Beard" Harden. He might not lead the league in PER (Westbrook) or Win Shares (Harden), but he's high up on just about every leaderboard. "His team is doing well". He has a chip on his shoulder and is playing with the flawless balance of class and "I'm better than you and I know it", attitude toward his opponents. If the Oklahoma City Thunder were a Windows computer, Russell Westbrook would be the System 32. But Westbrook's personality is sharp, able to cut off situations and people abruptly.
Yet, it works, in part due to their backgrounds.
"We would go out there and sacrifice ourselves for not just Russell - but we would for each other", Roberson told The Vertical.
Arguments have been made that Houston Rockets' guard James Harden deserves the MVP award.
They swapped spectacular highlights during the regular season: Westbrook averaging a triple-double in carrying Oklahoma City after Kevin Durant's departure; Harden leading the league in assists for a high-octane Houston offense that shattered the National Basketball Association record for 3-pointers. Westbrook has seemingly been a man on a mission each time he steps on the court and it's nearly scary to think about him turning things up even more in the postseason. Westbrook scored 39 points and recorded his 36th triple-double, but this one was a mismatch from the opening tip.
In preparation for the first round, I got some of the Space City Scoop staff together and asked them about how they think the series will play out. I'm not going to get in-depth with all that, but I thought winning was the most important thing. James Harden, freed from loathed shackles of staying with his man on defense, enjoyed the spotlight, scoring 29.1 points per game, dishing 11.2 assists and grabbing 8.1 rebounds per game. Robertson also did it in 1961-62.
Bench depth could also be a hindrance for the Thunder, the Rockets recently receiving a huge boost with the late season addition of scorer extraordinaire Lou Williams who has taken their second unit to another level of threat.
Police search for missing LA boy taken from elementary school by mother
Officers gave chase after Nisha Burnett's 2004 gold or tan BMW was spotted in the Marina del Rey area shortly after 7 p.m. At least two restraining orders have been filed against Burnett, who does not have child custody rights.
Westbrook has the freedom to shoot whenever he pleases. Making your teammates better against making your teammates better. "Transition, they do a great job of getting threes". They are believed to be much more dynamic than they actually are, so it's not surprising to have them play more unders, 37-44-1 against the projected line for the season and 2-8 in the last ten.
The Cavs lost 14 of their final 24 games to drop to second in the Eastern Conference, behind the Boston Celtics, and enter the postseason shakily with a first-round matchup vs. the Indiana Pacers that launches the playoffs on Saturday. Sure, his season wasn't as memorable as Westbrook's or Harden's was. It's also that these two groups are sort of bizzaro versions of each other.
"He's been unbelievable the way he's played, the way he's led", Donovan said.
Both teams didn't meet again until March 26, and this one wasn't close as the Rockets won, 137-125, at the Toyota Center. But not enough as he's been content to occupy a minor role as the main high screen-setter for Westbrook and the team's chief interior defensive presence.
"They are a very, very good offensive team", OKC coach Billy Donovan said.
Westbrook's Player Efficiency Rating was through the roof, soaring at a career-high of 30.6.
"Birthdays and random stuff", Westbrook describes it. But when trying to parse between greatness, something little can go a long way.
Don't expect them to see each other outside the arena during the series. Backups on good teams who are effective allow good teams to be great ones. It sounds silly, perhaps, but even during some of Westbrook's most heroic regular season performances, he couldn't always pull it off against some of the league's elite franchises.
Fred Katz is the Thunder beat writer for the Norman Transcript and CNHI Oklahoma as well as the host of the Locked on Thunder podcast.
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