I said before last night’s game that it was time for Russell Westbrook to tone down a bit and let Kevin Durant take over, like he did in Game 4. The last thing the Thunder needed was Westbrook to shoot them out of the game, right?
We are so stupid. And we’ll criticize Westbrook again because we’ve never seen anyone like him. Take last night for example.
The Spurs led 88-82 with four minutes left in the game before Westbrook took over, scoring seven points to go with two rebounds and an assist. He finished with 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, leading the Thunder to a 95-91 win.
Yes, there were eight turnovers, which as Billy Donovan put at halftime, “those are just possessions we can’t score on.”
Thanks for clearing that up, Billy.
Westbrook is going to have another game in the playoffs that we don’t like. “Be Robin, not Batman,” we’ll say. But after games like last night, we’re reminded why he’s so freaking good. We just need to shut up and watch.
In the first half, he played tentative, seemingly trying to wait for Durant to find his groove. But it never happened. Durant shot just 8-for-21 from the field and Westbrook knew late into the game he had to step up for the Thunder to have a chance. And he did just that.
Kawhi Leonard finished with 26 points for the Spurs, but San Antonio got absolutely killed on the glass, getting outrebounded 54-36. That can’t happen.
The fairy-tale Warriors and Spurs series might have to wait.
The Thunder took a 3-2 lead, with the series moving back to Oklahoma City. Game 6 will be on Thursday at 7:30.
Could it be Tim Duncan’s last game?
When you have no shirt when the doorbell rings but you found your dad’s jacket in the closet pic.twitter.com/wHi5IrAYBa
