It’s been an eventful week for Russell Westbrook. Monday night’s debacle with a hostile fan in Utah has resulted in a lifetime ban for the man in question, a $25,000 fine for Westbrook, and possible litigation from the individual who will no longer be allowed at any events at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.
It also prompted a conversation about ethical fan behavior and a re-examination of the NBA’s current protocols on dealing with such scenarios. If Westbrook was in any way distracted by all of that peripheral noise, it certainly didn’t show on the court.
On Wednesday night, he led the Thunder to a 108-96 win over the Brooklyn Nets with his 26th triple-double of the season: 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists (and, in typical Westbrook fashion, five turnovers just for good measure). In case you were wondering, he’s on track to average a triple-double for the the third straight season.
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But the takeaway is that it was a decisive victory over an up-and-coming Nets squad scrambling for playoff positioning in the East. OKC is likewise fighting for a prime playoff seed here in the season’s stretch run as they sit at No. 4 in the West and are just four games behind the Golden State Warriors for the top spot. The win over the Nets was their second straight as they look to right the ship after a rocky start to the post-All Star break, and it wasn’t just a one-man show in OKC on Wednesday night. Paul George continued his MVP campaign with 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a pair of steals against Brooklyn.
One of the conference foils they’re jockeying against, of course, is the Houston Rockets, who have been hitting the campaign trail with everything they’ve got as they rode a nine-game winning streak into their prime-time showdown against the reigning champs on Wednesday night at Toyota Center.
The Warriors have been battling their own internal strife this week as well, and per usual it was of their own making. During a loss to the lowly Suns of Phoenix on Sunday night, head coach Steve Kerr was caught on camera venting about Draymond Green with some choice verbiage, which resurrected all the old familiar questions about the Byzantine dynamics inside the Warriors’ locker room and whether we’re possibly witnessing the final days of Rome in Golden State.
Wednesday night’s matchup in Houston featured two of the top five players in the game, but arguably more interesting, two of the most suspect bench units in the NBA, which should offer no shortage of intrigue once the rotations shrink in the postseason and these shortfalls are magnified tenfold.
With Kevin Durant out with an ankle bruise he suffered during the Phoenix loss on Sunday, the Warriors turned to their two-headed hydra of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, who combined for 54 points and went 8-of-19 from downtown to upend the Rockets, 106-104, despite a late fourth-quarter push and put a halt to their league-best nine-game win streak.
DeMarcus Cousins also stepped up in Durant’s absence for one of his best performances of the season, putting up 27 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, a pair of steals, and one spectacular flop.
Boogie gave us this incredible flop and Draymond had some words for him… https://t.co/lSdLj7Z4zi
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) March 14, 2019
The Warriors were able to neutralize James Harden with lengthy defenders like Kevin Looney, who pestered the Beard into difficult looks from the field in the first half. Harden never really found his rhythm as he finished with 29 points on the night, but shot just 10-of-23 overall, including a frosty 2-of-12 from behind the arc.
Given that Curry made it known the Warriors wanted to make a “statement,” something Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni joked about earlier in the week, Golden State going into Houston and getting their first win of the season against the Rockets sets the tone going into the playoffs. With Houston once again considered the top contender for the Warriors’ throne in the West, Golden State ending the season series with a win certainly makes that statement that they still are the team to beat.
