The Thunder were consistently competitive for three quarters and consistently blew it late, especially when Westbrook was on the bench.
The first-round series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets came to a sudden end with the Rockets' Game 5 win on Tuesday night.
Like several of the earlier games in the series, the key moment of Game 5 came late in the game when Russell Westbrook was on the bench. In that 2:45 stretch at the start of the fourth quarter, the Rockets went on a 14-4 run, turning a five-point deficit into a five-point lead they would never surrender.
Because of this decision, head coach Billy Donovan once again came under fire for having Westbrook on the bench at all when it was a do-or-die game. It turns out, Donovan may not have had a choice as the one thing nobody expected finally happened — Russell Westbrook ran out of gas.
Even after Westbrook's rest in Game 5, it was clear he was tired. He missed his first seven shots and finished 2-11 in the quarter. In fact, that was the prevailing pattern throughout the series. Westbrook struggled late in games and as a result, so did the Thunder. As these charts show, the Thunder were consistently competitive for three quarters and consistently blew it late, especially when Westbrook was on the bench.
The Thunder were consistently competitive for three quarters and consistently blew it late, especially when Westbrook was on the bench. Read Full Story
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