Monday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder went into Oracle Arena and knocked off the Golden State Warriors, 108-102, in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. The Thunder were able to win thanks to a 19-point third quarter from point guard Russell Westbrook. That dynamic quarter from Russ was the key to Oklahoma City’s comeback from a 13-point halftime deficit.
The first half was not good for Westbrook, who struggled with his jump shot. As a team, the Thunder shot 45.5 percent from the field, but shot 50 percent from three-point range, which kept them within striking distance. What hurt Oklahoma City in the first two quarters was turnovers (10). Those turnovers led to 15 points for the Warriors.
Westbrook was getting outplayed by his counterpart, two-time MVP Stephen Curry. In the first half, Curry had 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, to go along with six rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Westbrook was getting beaten at his own game, which is stuffing the stat sheet and making an impact in every facet of competition. In the first half, Westbrook scored only three points, as he shot a horrendous 1-of-8 from the field.
With Westbrook not scoring much, he made sure to get his teammates involved early: He dished out eight assists in the first half. Thankfully, on the other end of his assists, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and Enes Kanter were able to finish plays, giving the Warriors’ defense something else to think about.
Then in the third quarter, Westbrook came alive, which meant the Thunder finally ran on all cylinders. Around the 7:02 mark in the quarter, with Oklahoma City down by 10 (68-58), Westbrook knocked down a three-pointer with a second left on the shot clock to get himself going. That three-pointer gave Westbrook all the confidence he needed; he quickly transformed into a different player.
In the third quarter alone, Westbrook scored 19 of the Thunder’s 38 points. He shot 5-of-9 from the field (2-of-3 from three-point range) and got to the free throw line eight times. He played with aggressiveness, which the Thunder fed off. He outplayed Curry in the quarter. Curry scored only nine points in the third quarter, which all came by the three-point shot, but Westbrook played tremendous defense on him. Westbrook locked down and played the passing lanes, forcing Curry to turn the ball over three times.
If you thought Westbrook’s 19-point third quarter performance was a rare occurrence, you thought wrong. In this year’s playoffs alone, Westbrook has played his best basketball in the third quarter. He has shot 47.3 percent from the field, while shooting a ridiculous 51.9 percent from three-point range.
If you take a deeper look at his third-quarter playoff numbers, Westbrook is shooting 50 percent at the rim and 51.9 percent from three-point range. Against Golden State in the third quarter, Westbrook also showed confidence in his jump shot, which has been important for him in the playoffs. Westbrook is shooting 46.2 percent on jump shots in the third quarter, while layups are the only shot type which is more successful for him (47.6 percent).
That said, Westbrook’s third-quarter performance was something to watch; it enabled him to finish Game 1 with 27 points, 12 assists and seven steals.
What does he have to do in Game 2? For starters, he must continue to get his teammates involved, especially if his offense isn’t coming easily. A mature point guard knows that when his shots aren’t falling, he must run the offense for his team to be successful. Westbrook noticed this in Game 1, continuing his development as one of the league’s best point guards.
The second thing Westbrook must do in Game 2 is continue to play aggressive defense on Curry and clog the passing lanes. In the second half of Game 1, Westbrook had three steals and forced Curry to turn the ball over four times. He also held Curry to 12 points in the second half on 4-of-11 shooting from the field (all four made field goals were threes). Westbrook doubled Curry’s scoring production, finishing with 24 second-half points.
Finally, Westbrook must play with confidence and continue to do the little things. During Monday night’s telecast, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan mentioned this specific need to remain attuned to the finer details of defense, the granular components of angling off defenders and making wise reactions which don’t allow Curry to get free.
Westbrook and the Thunder have already claimed home-court advantage by winning Game 1. In Game 2, Oklahoma City must be ready for an all-out blitz from the Warriors, who do not want to go down 0-2. If Westbrook takes what he did in the third quarter and applies it to all 48 minutes in Game 2, the Thunder could be heading home with a 2-0 series lead.
