Thunder Spoil Westbrook’s Return, Blitz Rockets 113-92
Lost in the Storm. Rustier Beard. Too Little, Too Late.
Russell Westbrook got a hero’s welcome in Oklahoma City when he returned in his first game back. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much to celebrate, other than his Thunder memories. Another night with Houston, and another embossing defeat for the Rockets, a team that’s too many already this season. Houston was outplayed from the opening tip, en route to a 113-92 beatdown in Oklahoma City. 92 points is the lowest the Rockets have scored all season. Russell Westbrook wasn’t the problem. Brodie had 34 points on 14-of-26 shooting, but no one else showed up for the Rockets. They seemed lost in the storm of all the hooplas surrounding Westbrook’s return. It appeared the Rockets prioritized Brodie having a good game over winning from the start. Houston departed from their gameplan and trailed by double-digits for most of the contest.
It didn’t help that James Harden had his worst game of the year. By far. The Beard scored a season-low 17 points on 5-of-17 shooting. Conrows James efficiency continues to trend downward with his new hairstyle. Maybe it’s time to go to back to the old look. Other than Harden and Westbrook, Chris Clemons was the only other Rocket in double-figures, scoring 14 points. CC3 should have seen the court earlier in the game, but didn’t get any action until garbage time. Clemons could have potentially kept the Rockets in the game, but didn’t get to play until any chance of a comeback was too little too late. Houston did play the night before, with Oklahoma City resting. That’s still no excuse to lose by 21 points before a national audience. The Rockets had four days off prior to their game the night before in Atlanta, and Westbrook rested against the Hawks. Houston just retreated from their normal gameplan, and got outplayed from start to finish.
The Rockets return home next for a Saturday afternoon game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Houston’s now in the fifth spot in the standings after sizzling Utah passed them up. The Rockets need to beat inferior teams like Minnesota to stay in the hunt for one of the top seeds. Chris Paul and the Thunder proved they’re no joke, and look bound for the playoffs this season. The Wolves are one of seven teams fighting for that last spot out West. Houston will have to bring more fight if they want a victory when they return for their first game back home in eight days.