Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (C) shoots against against Denver Nuggets guard Raymond Felton (20) during the second half of Game 1 of the Western Conference NBA basketball playoffs in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, April 17, 2011. REUTERS/Bill Waugh (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)
Watching the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Thunder/Nuggets series, I noticed that OKC didn’t utilize Kevin Durant much down the stretch, even though he had 37 points in the game with seven minutes to play. Over those final seven minutes, Durant was just 1-2 from the field.
Here’s how the Thunder’s final possessions went, before the Nuggets had to start fouling with 0:11 to play:
7:26 Kevin Durant makes two point shot (Russell Westbrook assists)
7:05 Kevin Durant makes 14-foot two point shot (Russell Westbrook assists)
6:13 Russell Westbrook makes 19-foot two point shot
5:45 Russell Westbrook lost ball (Raymond Felton steals)
5:28 Kevin Durant misses 25-foot three point jumper
5:05 Russell Westbrook misses 17-foot two point shot
4:26 Russell Westbrook misses 24-foot three point jumper
4:01 Thabo Sefolosha misses 23-foot three point jumper
3:26 Kevin Durant makes 11-foot jumper (Thabo Sefolosha assists)
2:38 Serge Ibaka misses 16-foot jumper
2:09 Russell Westbrook misses 17-foot jumper
1:40 Russell Westbrook bad pass (Nene Hilario steals)
1:06 Russell Westbrook misses 11-foot jumper
1:05 Kendrick Perkins makes tip shot
0:22 Russell Westbrook makes 15-foot two point shot
Not counting those first two possessions, someone other than Durant shot the ball (or turned it over) on eight of the next 10 possessions. During that span, Russell Westbrook shot 2-for-6 for four points, zero assists and two turnovers. (He did assist on the first two Durant makes.)
If not for the blown goaltending no-call on Kendrick Perkins’ tip-in, the Thunder would have found themselves down by one without the ball with a minute to play. Under those circumstances they easily could have lost the game and they would have those previous eight possessions to blame.
I like Russell Westbrook and he’s obviously a great player, but he doesn’t have a point guard mentality. This has been only major gripe with his game since he has come into the league and that probably won’t change anytime soon. He went 2-for-6 with two turnovers, so he was responsible for five empty possessions in the final seven minutes. It would have been six if not for Perkins’ illegal tip-in.
At some point, Westbrook needs to figure out a way to get Durant (arguably the league’s best scorer) the ball in a position where he can be successful, especially in crunch time when Durant is obviously the team’s best chance at winning. If teams are going to double-team Durant, fine. Let Durant use his size to find the open man. I didn’t see a lot of that down the stretch. Instead, I saw Westbrook dribbling around and firing up contested jumpers. The shoot-first point guard can be successful depending on team make-up (i.e. Derrick Rose, who is clearly the Bulls’ best offensive weapon), but OKC cannot afford to waste crucial possessions in a tight game.
For this reason, I don’t know that the Thunder are championship caliber, at least not yet. They’re my favorite team in the West, but without heady point guard play, it’s tough to win those nailbiters down the stretch.
