The Oklahoma City Thunder struggled yet again in the clutch Friday as they dropped a 99-98 decision to the visiting Detroit Pistons.
OKC had a chance to win with five seconds left coming out of a timeout in a one-point game. The inbound pass went to Russell Westbrook, who pulled up for three over Pistons guard Avery Bradley, but saw the shot rim out.
Not sure why Westbrook shot a three 🙃 pic.twitter.com/s01QXuISrI
— Off the Glass (@otgbasketball) November 25, 2017
Thunder fans were beyond frustrated that the team had choked yet again in the clutch with a moment of "hero ball," but coach Billy Donovan ardently defended Westbrook's decision on the play.
"It was exactly what we wanted," Donovan told Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript. " ... I thought (Westbrook) generated a pretty good look for himself. I thought that the execution part of it was pretty good."
It could have been considered a curious decision to have Westbrook take the shot after he'd gone 10-of-28 from the field and just 1-of-9 from deep in the contest. Only two minutes earlier, he bricked an awkward triple off the backboard and then immediately hoisted up another trey that was nearly an airball.
Coming into Friday's game, Westbrook had made just 32 percent from deep and 40 percent from the field overall.
However, Donovan said he wants to give his stars the "freedom to get to spots" and take whatever shots come most comfortably to them.
"I trust his decision-making," Donovan added of Westbrook. "And if he feels like he can get off a clean shot - I didn't feel like it was highly contested."
