I’m not going to sugarcoat this, without Russell Westbrook this Thunder squad would be abysmal at best and playing for lottery position. I don’t write this trying to be snarky, but rather to be honest. Clearly, this is the season of Westbrook in Oklahoma City, but without Westbrook this would have been a season of monumental bleakness in the reddest of red states.
The Thunder beat the NY Knicks by a 116-105 margin on Wednesday night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. OKC improves to 32-25 on the season heading into the All-Star break. OKC doesn’t play another game for nine days and maybe during those nine days Sam Presti can do something as per his GM job description to give Westbrook some help. But know this, without Westbrook this assemblage of Sam Presti talent would have a record of something like 7-50. No hyperbole–none. At times when Westbrook leaves the floor, I turn my eyes away. I can’t watch.
On Wednesday night, Westbrook was once again brilliant as he notched his 27th triple double of the season in his personal quest of chasing Oscar Robertson. Westbrook’s line was spectacular—38 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists. It was an efficient line as well as Westbrook was 13-22 from the line and 3-5 from behind the arc. Good thing for Sam Presti and Billy Donovan that Westbrook didn’t sulk and demand a trade after Durant’s exit to Oakland on July 4th or else the only thing I’d be writing on this blog is what dumbass thing Donald Trump said on any given day. The fact Westbrook despises Trump as much as I do makes me wish I could sit down with him at some point and talk politics instead of Thunder basketball.
Anyway….. the Thunder were awful early in this game falling behind 13-2 for the most part because no one other than Westbrook could hit the Pacific Ocean with a basketball even if they were standing next to it. But things got better as Joff Lauvergne helped Westbrook a little and then it must have occurred to other Thunder players that for them to score isn’t against the rules or the Presti Doctrine. Visualize Walter Matthau and the Bad News Bears getting base hits and catching the ball all the sudden if you want.
Oladipo finally got going and actually finished the game with 21 points. Steven was okay, but nothing spectacular scoring 12 points and grabbing 8 rebounds….more is needed from Adams. Andre Roberson, who was 2-32 shooting threes in this last stretch of games, made a three point bucket from the top of the key which made me rub my eyes just to make sure this occurrence wasn’t a mirage. Roberson had a decent game with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
Jerami Grant had a nice game with 13 points and Joff Laurvergne had those 7 first half points which reminded Westbrook he wasn’t going to have to play the Knicks 1 on 5 all night long.
Key to this game was the fact the Knicks are a monumental failure this season considering their talent and it’s becoming apparent Phil Jackson as a GM isn’t all that much.
A bright spot for OKC was the fact they shot 12-23 from beyond the arc which is quite spectacular for these Bad News Bears minus Russell Westbrook.
Combined, Cam Payne and Enes Kanter didn’t contribute a single point for the second straight game. Pretty amazing OKC could win a game with this dynamic in place, but this season is all about Westbrook and how completely fortunate Oklahoma City fans are that they can still watch him play every night.
So now we’re at the All-Star break and this Thunder team is a miraculous 32-25. This sentence alone should be the only argument needed on Russell Westbrook’s behalf on why he should easily be the MVP choice at the break. Your Honor, I ask for a directed verdict, give this young man his trophy and make these other players practice their shooting.
When the Thunder resume play in nine days, they have a stretch of three very winnable home games in a row to start the goal achieving portion of the season. Maybe the Bad News Bears should hang around in Oklahoma City and practice with Billy Donovan. Maybe Sam Presti should do something GM-like and actually acquire a player can actually fucking score the basketball to help Westbrook.
But I’m not holding my breath. I’m just enjoying this Season of Westbrook and hoping maybe sometime we can compare notes on the Trump Doctrine.
Good for Mika and Joe.
Our Thunder season.