Fire At Will: Westbrook's Wild West Game 2 comes up short
The Oklahoma City Thunder live and die with Russell Westbrook, so there's no point in criticizing his efficiency (or lack thereof) in Wednesday's Game 2 loss to the Houston Rockets.
But my goodness, those numbers.
Westbrook scored 51 points, dished 13 assists, and grabbed 10 rebounds to notch the NBA's first-ever postseason 50-point triple-double. Of course, as he said afterward, those digits are meaningless without a win.
Yet the numbers behind the numbers were breathtaking.
"Brodie" logged a 55.3 percent usage rate in the game, and an absurd 65.1 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective. While just two playoff games provide an admittedly small sample size, Westbrook has a 52 percent usage rate so far. For comparison's sake, LeBron James' storied usage rate in the 2015 postseason was 37.6.
Westbrook took 18 of the Thunder's 30 fourth-quarter shots Wednesday, making only four. That means he missed more buckets in the period (14) than his teammates took shots (12).
The Thunder entered the quarter leading by three, but promptly surrendered a 10-5 run. Victor Oladipo and Andre Roberson also collected some key misses in the quarter.
"That one sucked. It was garbage," Thunder center Steven Adams said, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne. "It was just mainly getting some momentum going on the offensive end when we weren't taking the greatest of shots."
After Westbrook's 51, the next-leading OKC scorer in the game was Roberson with 12.
Russ's 43 shots in the contest made him only the third person since 1983-84 to shoot 40 or more times in an NBA playoff game. The other two are Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson, and only Jordan's 45 shots in a 1988 postseason win over the Cleveland Cavaliers rank higher. Westbrook's 18 free throws also tied his second-most attempts ever from the foul line in the playoffs.
Westbrook hit a career-high 34.3 percent of his 3-point attempts this season, but he's gone cold from beyond the arc through two playoff games. He's 5-for-22 from deep against Houston, good for a 22.8 percent success rate.
But that's how the Thunder roll. Westbrook fires away, and the chips fall where they may.