Russell Westbrook’s Maverick Miracle A Microcosm Of Thunder’s Season
Russell Westbrook adds another notch to his MVP season with a stunning comeback in Dallas.
With less than five minutes left in Dallas on Thursday Night, fans of both sides began to head for the exits as it appeared the Thunder would not be able to overcome a fourteen point deficit, down 88–74 and seemingly unable to generate any decent offense consistently.
Then of course, Russell Westbrook happened.
The Thunder’s miraculous and inspiring leader came to the rescue in a way only he can, scoring 16 points in the final quarter and 12 in the final 3 and a half minutes capped off a stunning 37 point, 13 rebound and 10 assist display on a night where his young teammates were unable to help him shoulder the load.
It was the Westbrook show in every way possible, and the game itself played out much like the Thunder’s season has as a whole. The starting group came out strongly, as Taj Gibson’s impact on the lineup continued to pay dividends.
When Westbrook headed for the bench at 21–19, he would have been very frustrated if you told him that 8 minutes later the Thunder would have only scored 4 points in that timeframe. When he went to the basket himself for an and-one halfway through the second, it was the Thunder’s first bucket of the quarter. Oklahoma City’s supporting cast were abysmal particularly in the first half, where Westbrook scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting while the rest of the team could only muster 17 points on 7-of-25 from the field. It was one of the worst halves they’ve played all year. Their 10 second quarter points was a season low for a quarter.
They woke up in the second half though, and came out something of a different team. Putting together in an 11–0 run in the opening 2:24, they had already scored more than the entire second quarter. The defense was active, they were making shots and seemed far more engaged. It only lasted half a quarter however as they dried up again offensively, scoring only 2 points in the final 6:26 of the quarter.
Billy Donovan’s men got the offense going in the final quarter, but this time they couldn’t get stops. Semaj Christon was horrendous in his 20 minutes on the floor and was a -17, continuing to struggle on offense and bizarrely was taking bad midrange shots throughout the contest. Donovan has experimented with his rotations all season long, but now is the time to solidify them. While the team can be versatile, they are lacking a variety of go to lineups to use for an entire 48 minutes without dry spells on either end.
Russell Westbrook dragged them back from the brink of a second straight bad loss however, getting them out of Texas with one win. It started with an 18 footer, then a 13 footer to cut the lead to 10. Yogi Ferrell hit a nice step back three to stretch the lead back out to 91–78 with 3:31 remaining. It would be the last time the Mavericks would trouble the scoreline.
Westbrook drove to the rim for a huge slam, then a 25 footer from behind the arc before Steven Adams tipped in his miss on the following possession. The Mavericks called a timeout with the lead trimmed to six, but it didn’t matter. The Thunder’s star man then hit an 8 footer and was fouled, and finished the and-one. J.J. Barea’s airball gave the ball back to Oklahoma City, and an offensive rebound allowed Westbrook to snake in and hit a ten footer to bring the deficit to one.
Andre Roberson quietly put together a superb defensive game, holding Harrison Barnes to 4-of-14 shooting and just 10 points for the night. He had the ball on the Mavericks last two possessions, and the first was a post up on Roberson that was a tough contested fadeaway. It gave the ball back to Oklahoma City, but Westbrook missed a mid ranger. However Westbrook made a superb defensive play on the following inbounds and knocked the ball out of bounds off of Barea. All of a sudden, the Thunder had a chance to win it.
Smartly taking the ball in the backcourt without a timeout which gave him more room to operate, Westbrook measured up Wesley Matthews, and reminded Mark Cuban that he indeed is a superstar. Like the play used in the win at Utah earlier in the season, it ended the same way.
Harrison Barnes then rattled a deep three off the side of the rim, and that was that. The Thunder had stolen a huge win on the road in Dallas. It was a whole lot more than simply a game winner though clearly, as Westbrook took over the game with a fierce authority in the clutch he’s shown all season long.
It was the encapsulation of the Thunder’s entire season in one game, where the inconsistencies on the road of the Thunder’s role players meant Westbrook really had to do it all to get the win.
With a 15–21 road record and a series most likely containing four games in Houston, the Thunder will want to start rectifying their inconsistencies quickly if they want to make it a competitive series with the Rockets. Otherwise it’ll look a lot like Sunday’s encounter.
However Monday’s comeback win and his individual dominance is why Westbrook being championed as a worthy Most Valuable Player award winner. Triple double 37 was also logged, and with nine games to go he now only requires four more this season to tie Oscar Robertson’s All Time mark. Of course, the Thunder also moved to 30–7 (.810) when he registers such a stat line in 2016–17. That’s the equivalent of a 66–16 season, so his production proves to be vital to the cause in Oklahoma City. It was also fitting that he registered the 100th triple double of the season.
No one game in the entire regular season can decide MVP, but with nine games left this sort of performance when his team really needed it might be remembered as a crowning moment in what has been a record breaking and historical season for Russell Westbrook.
With the final stretch of the season in it’s midst and the battle for Playoff seeding still raging, what else will we see?
