The Houston Rockets are supposed to be a pretty boy team, but on this night it was an overall team toughness which propelled the Rockets to a 102-99 road win which in turn ended the Oklahoma City Thunder’s win streak at six games.
Nothing about this game was pretty by either team. Exciting finish-yes, but nothing pretty, glossy, or smooth. Westbrook did triple double for the 7th straight game at 27-10-10, but with an 8-25 shooting night and eight turnovers attached. Even more revealing, Westbrook went 0-7 from three land and seemingly had his old friend Patrick Beverly (Hello Darkness, My Old Friend) glued to him for most of the evening, especially on a late Westbrook three with the game clock under twenty seconds and a chance to give the Thunder the lead.
After the Westbrook miss, Trevor Ariza was fouled and sent to the line where he made two free throws to give the Rockets a three point lead which held as an Anthony Morrow three came up short at the buzzer for OKC.
Objectively speaking, the Thunder didn’t deserve to win the game as they lost each of the first three periods and found themselves playing uphill against the Rockets all night long. At one point, the Thunder trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, but in the customary manner of late, Westbrook sparked a fourth quarter rally, however in the end it was too little and too late.
Look at the box score on this game and it tells the story. OKC turned the ball over 19 times and got hammered on their defensive boards as Houston had 16 offensive boards on the night. Overall, Houston won the boards 52-46 and bench scoring as well by a 44-22 margin. So despite OKC holding Harden and Patrick Beverly to a combined shooting night of 7-31, the Rockets simply rolled up their sleeves and won a road game with old fashioned blue collar moxie which usually isn’t associated with their current team brand.
OKC’s defense was fine for the most part as the Rockets went 11-42 shooting their usual frenetic arsenal of threes, but Houston made the plays when it mattered and OKC did not. I call it TSN or just plain grit.
Andre Roberson did another good job defending James Harden limiting him to a 6-23 night, but again it was just toughness on this night from the Rockets which made the difference. For crying out loud, Patrick Beverly had twelve rebounds and was throwing his body all over the place like Mr. Glue. Some hate Beverly, I don’t. I love what he brings to the Rockets even if he is an annoying pain in the ass, but if you’re really honest you know you’d love him if he were on your team.
Rockets improve to 16-7 and now can look upward at the Clippers and aspire for more than fourth in the West as I see it. Houston has a nice team. Capela is sneaky good. Ariza and Beverly give them some perimeter defense and blue collar character. Gordon and Anderson give them spacing and perimeter shooting. Nene gives them an interesting vet big off the bench. Harden gives them a bona fide superstar. Mike D’Antoni gives them an experienced head coach who’s finally got a decent roster to coach for the first time since his glory days with Steve Nash in Phoenix. Plus, they appeared to be unfazed playing on the road. So there you go.
OKC had five players in double figures on the night. Steven Adams had a career scoring high of 24 points and added 10 rebounds. Oladipo and Morrow each scored 12 points while Kanter added ten. Roberson and Jerami Grant both played some high quality defense which for me is the silver lining in this loss. Namely, OKC has a good defensive team which with Grant and Roberson on the floor together can play some very effective small lineup defense against certain opposing matchups. Down the road this Thunder team could become a very good defensive team as this season moves along.
In closing, Patrick Beverly didn’t end Westbrook’s steak of triple doubles, but if you love ugly basketball, you begrudgingly know he was an integral part of a Rocket road win inside the Peake on Friday night.
Boston Celtics in town Sunday night against the Thunder as Westbrook eyes his eighth straight triple.