When it all falls down, Hack-an-Asik.
That seemed to be the thought process for Scott Brooks and the Oklahoma City Thunder coaching staff during the Thunder’s 107-100 Game 5 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
To anyone that has ever wondered how the Thunder would look without Russell Westbrook…now you know. They look like a team employing one of the most annoying strategies in basketball in an attempt to slow the game down and buy themselves more time to try and figure something out. They look like a team completely lost offensively. They look like a team that has lost its balance.
So many have wondered – shortsightedly — how Kevin Durant would look without Westbrook by his side. Manufacturing drama between the two, they wanted badly to prove the point that an aggressive, scoring point guard like Westbrook was holding Durant back.
Durant was held scoreless in the fourth quarter of last night’s loss. He looked as confused by the team’s decision to intentionally foul Asik as everyone was in his post-game press conference. He picked up a frustration technical foul in the final seconds, his emotions written clearly all over his face.
Whatever people want to think of Westbrook’s game, without him, the Thunder are drastically different. Without Harden, they were a different team but they still had two of the best players in the NBA. Losing to the Miami Heat in the Finals last year, Durant had Westbrook and Harden on the floor with him to take attention and open up the floor for him. Without either of those players this season, the Rockets have been able to focus all of their attention on him.
Despite Durant’s greatness, it hasn’t been an easy spotlight to be under.
“They don’t really care about everybody else on the team,” Durant said after the game. “So when I had the ball, there was like four guys guarding me at times.”
While Durant showed his frustrations during the game, he was composed when speaking with the media and praised the job Reggie Jackson has done stepping into Westbrook’s starting role. The problem, of course, is that Jackson is not Westbrook. Not even close.
For the Thunder to close out the series in Houston, Jackson has to stay aggressive and force the Rockets to recognize him as a scoring threat. Kevin Martin cannot go 1-for-10 from the floor (including 0-for-5 from beyond the arc) again. Oklahoma City absolutely needs to take care of the glass, especially when the Rockets go small. In Game 5, Harden and 6-foot-1 point guard Patrick Beverley combined to grab 16 rebounds. Serge Ibaka scored 14 points on Wednesday night. It took him 14 field goal attempts. He didn’t attempt a single free throw.
On Friday night, the Thunder must be the aggressors. Despite being at home, in front of one of the best home crowds in the league, they allowed a Rockets team led by an under-the-weather Harden dictate the pace and get them on their heels.
Durant, one of Harden’s closest friends, understands all too well the danger in allowing him to get comfortable early. Harden started the game connecting on his first seven three-pointers, tying a record set by Robert Horry. Similarly to how the Denver Nuggets used Game 5 to knock Stephen Curry off balance, the Thunder need to prevent Harden from finding his groove early.
For the Thunder to win this series, for the Thunder to win any series, they need Durant to be at his best. Star players step up under the bright lights of the playoffs. While he has shown time and time again that he is willing and ready to take the big shots, make the gutsy plays and live with the results, good or bad, he’s never had to do it alone before.
Durant has been doing everything he can to will this team forward. Despite being scoreless in the fourth on Wednesday night he finished with 36 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while shooting 11-for-23 from the floor and 13-for-16 from the line. He also played 45 minutes. As the series wears on and the minutes and pressures pile up, Durant needs help from his supporting cast more.
While this series has two of the most explosive scorers in the league facing off in Durant and Harden, the Thunder without Westbrook are a team trying to adapt on the fly.
“They miss him everywhere,” McHale said. “How would you not? He’s one of the top players in the league. They probably miss him in the locker room, miss him in shoot-around, miss him on the bus, miss him on the plane, miss him on offense, miss him on defence. Did I miss anything?”
As media and fans alike have long believed that Durant was the face of this team, this series is showing the identity of the Thunder has always been the one their players have presented to us: one of brotherhood and togetherness.
Westbrook watched the game from a suite in the arena on Wednesday night, crutches by his side, Harden on the opposing team. It has been a season of change for the Thunder. Having the second-best player in the league makes everything easier, but one reality that has become undeniable is just how important Westbrook is to this Thunder team. Durant has always known this. It’s well past time for everyone else to recognize.