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IT WAS ARGUABLY the worst game of Russell Westbrook's career.
It was March 16, and the Thunder of Oklahoma City had just lost 22 goals against a Golden State Warriors team playing without Kevin Durant. Westbrook attempted to get a 7 point performance – 2 shots on 16 and 0 out of 7 – which also included his 16th technical foul which resulted in an automatic suspension of a match.
Thunder was in its infancy in its post-All Star slide and the Warriors game was important. The scenario of the game, however, was less about the lousy defeat of the Thunder than the suspended suspension of Westbrook. An expected victory was coming – at home against the Miami Heat – but without Westbrook, everything was suddenly in doubt (they would lose by 9).
During the post-game period, Westbrook had already declared "next question" three times, all of which had been questioned about the technical foul. After another on the confidence of the pass when the defense collapsed, it was the last call – one last question came, aiming at his harsh shooting night.
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Russell, when you have a night like this, where you shoot as you did, do you change something or do you continue doing what you did, given the defense that's going on? they launched you?
In any Westbrook media session, there are certain words of the trip. We were struck with this question. Westbrook took a sip of icy water, flipped through it, and waited for the end of the question, his answer already locked and loaded.
"Change what?" Said Westbrook.
Do you change the way you approach your shot …
"Have I changed in 11 years?" Westbrook interrupted, looking back.
There was a brief pause, while everyone in the room was thinking the same thing – Well, I hope so – but Westbrook waited for a resigned 'no' in response, then nodded and freed himself from the fray.
Has Westbrook changed? Will he? Will thunder have to change around him? These are questions for OKC after another disappointing defeat in the first round, this time in five games at the hands of Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers.
The rise of thunder started on December 5th. Paul George had scored 25 points – in the fourth quarter only – to start a miraculous rally against Thunder and the Brooklyn Nets. George finished with 47, the last three with 3.1 seconds to play on a 3 winner, the first official winner of George's career.
Westbrook, who had 21 points, 15 rebounds and 17 assists – the last to prepare George for his match winner – pulled out completely in the fourth quarter as George cooked. After the last shot of the Nets was missed, Westbrook rushed George into his post-match interview, throwing water on his head.
The Thunder started the season in a team-wide pass but still won mainly because of a fierce defense. George had begun to scrutinize the conversation with MVP, but the game against the Nets was officially launching his campaign. And that's nice when everything started to come into place for OKC.
From the opening night to December 4, the Thunder hit 31.4% against 3 in team. George scored 33% to 3. After the game of the Nets until the break of the game of stars, George scored nearly 45% against 3 for more than 10 attempts per game. Thunder struck 38 percent of 3.
When the thunder rolled mid-season, George could have been the best player in the NBA. Or the most complete, at least. He was Steph Curry with the defense of Kawhi Leonard. He scored regularly seven or eight thirds per game, scoring 30 at will, and the Thunder has entered a historic offensive series by scoring at least 115 points in 20 consecutive games.
The Thunder took the identity of George and Westbrook has happily stepped back. George was the best player. Westbrook was the complementary piece. There was this old Durant-Westbrook atmosphere. Westbrook was in a shooting crisis, but while many were focusing on his difficulties, they were missing areas where he was raising the team. In some respects, Westbrook also played his best basketball.
Westbrook played a different style, staying less on the ball, hockey helping more, taking smarter shots. He had recruited George to stay, and the obvious friendship and chemistry that the two built in their first season together was the main reason George did it. But that's also because he knew Westbrook could and would like to evolve to raise George. Westbrook has long been characterized in many ways, but one thing it is not in fact is selfish. He just wants to win, and this monotonous obsession can sometimes blur the lines.
The third game after the break of the stars, George is injured in the right shoulder against the Denver Nuggets. He missed the next three games because of "pain". The Thunder had a double, the only win being a 99-95 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, in which Westbrook struck a few late shots. A few games later, George is injured in the left shoulder. He did not run out of time because of this, but had to heat up while he was sitting on the bench during the matches and that he was getting treatment.
George's shoulder injury – which, in every way, is more than just a pain – largely resets the make-up of the Thunder. As George tried to regain his, Westbrook finally regained some pace, the triple-double started to flow again and the Thunder became the Westbrook team again. The locker rooms were more serious and tense, with each match feeling significant, each defeat frustrating. Inconsistencies and defeats obviously play, but there was a little less joy around the Thunder when there was so much earlier in the season.
PORTLAND ON the morning of the fifth game, Westbrook was asked for it really thought that he had not changed in 11 years.
He remembered the question asked almost a month ago and remembered his answer. He said that he had interpreted the question as an approach to the game, not how he played it. Semantic, of course, but for Westbrook, the details matter. The choice of words is important.
It is difficult to ask questions because a misplaced word can derail everything. Asking questions about how he attacks a specific defensive blanket can shake his eyes and dazzle them if it is suggested that the opposing team "removes" his attacks on the ledge. This can lead some journalists to assume its syntax, saying things like "read and react" or "compete at a high level" to ask questions.
We all know that he plays the same way every night. He even told reporters that it was repeated to him if it was suggested otherwise. It's a huge source of pride for Westbrook that he's playing harder than anyone else and is doing it night after game in the 82-game season. So good, not the approach. Has he changed – evolved – in his way of playing?
"There are different ways, different aspects of my game that have changed, the way I play," said Westbrook.
"But," he said, as he was not going to let that bend, "my approach to the game has never changed."
Westbrook's confidence is unwavering, his mental courage unshakeable, his spirit of competition relentless. When he calibrates right, with his qualities combining efficiency, confidence and probably the most important, superstar teammate, the Westbrook Way is validated. When one replaces the other, when his desire to win scrambles intelligent decisions and quality goods, like a low-voice singer in a choir, everything fails. That's why Westbrook is forever polarizing and constantly being the subject of debate and debate. His mistakes are serious because he is always willing to commit them.
The Blazers openly dared Westbrook in the series by shouting "Back up! Back up! Back up!" to the defenders who kept him on the perimeter. The assistants told the players who registered: "Let Russ shoot".
It's a test of will for Westbrook, a diabolical game plan that may put him against his toughest enemy – himself. This is the approach versus the evolution. Westbrook will never go quietly in the night. That's why he shot 43 times in the sixth game against Jazz last season, while George was struggling with five points in two shots out of 16. It's one of Westbrook's many paradoxes. : they only had a chance to win because he gave them one, but did they lose because he tried to do too much?
The Blazers were ready to try their luck and in a season his jumper had dropped Westbrook could not answer. This led to performances like Match 4, where Westbrook shot 5 of 21, but played a confusing second half with a point on a 0-7 shot, the worst semi-final series of his career. What he did, is read that the Blazers helped throughout the half-time, addressing the shooters and dressmakers, fighting against the urge to sneak whenever an 18-foot open player or a cannon was heading towards the edge, in front of a crowd of defenders waiting. It did not look like Westbrook, which is so often the heart of the matter: he is cursed if he does it, and cursed if he does not. For him, it's always just a question of whether the shot goes in the basket or not.
The Thunder may have played his best game of Match 5, George looking like the Blazer killer he's been all season. The ball moved well, Westbrook hovered around the chaos and control and they showed the type of resilience for which they were known.
But there was no way to stop Damian Lillard. He had 34 in the first period and finished with an equal score of 50, the last three on what will remain as one of the finest post-season shots of all time.
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With the match tied at 115-115, Damian Lillard left the center to sink the winner of the match and eliminate the Thunder.
The thunder led through 15 with 7:45 left, then 10 at 5:31 left, then 8 at 3:55. They stood, but did enough. The Blazers headed for Westbrook, trying to put the game in his hands. In the last four minutes, the Thunder scored two points: a George Elbow jumper who took the lead with 39.4 seconds to go. Westbrook missed two shots, was called for an accusation on what would have been a miracle and one and made a mistake in favor of an offensive rebound that gave Portland two critical free throws. George missed a pair of free throws and had a turnover in traffic.
Just like the promise of a beautiful season, this is simply revealed.
Another triple-double for Westbrook – 29 points on 31 throws, 14 assists and 11 rebounds – and another first-round exit for the Thunder.
Westbrook broke a historic record that will never be forgotten with three consecutive three-way averages. But there are three consecutive disappointments in the playoffs, each more embarrassing than the last. He is 4-12 in the playoffs since Kevin Durant's departure, with zero playoff wins.
The playoff failures can shape the prospect and, for some, Westbrook's critics are a kind of open reprimand for the style and bravado that has turned it into an MVP.
THE NEXT QUESTION for the Thunder and for Westbrook, is not it easy to answer: what now? OKC posts the league's second payroll, a $ 60 million luxury tax bill and a playoff win.
They have a 30 year old Westbrook with $ 171 million remaining on his contract. They have George, signed through the season 2021-22 (a player option on last season). Despite immense disappointment, they have for the first time in nearly five seasons, the stability of their composition. They could look to the other side of the team that just beat them and see a group that has suffered consecutive playoff series and a series of 10 consecutive losses in the playoffs before bouncing back. A year ago, the Blazers were the team that needed something concrete: a sacked coach, an exchanged star, a kind of reworking to fix them. They did not react and they were rewarded.
Portland also had the kind of infrastructure and leadership to lead this approach. Lillard guided them in the darkness and the embarrassment of the post-season. Westbrook's leadership style is different and, inside the walls of the Thunder, it's possible that things are happening outside the locker room. The Thunder are known for their strong culture and sustainable method. All signs suggest a regular and measured response from the reception.
The future of Billy Donovan as head coach is involved, but the team chose his option last December for the 2019-2020 season. This does not mean that he still can not be fired, but it was at least a mark of confidence in the direction given by Donovan.
Failures are often directed to the coach and Donovan would be among the first to raise the hand. But many of the Thunder's problems were out of his control. His attack generated quality shots. the players have not always done them. George had the best season of his career. he's hurt and played through. Westbrook was under Donovan's supervision, then he was lost at the worst possible time.
The Thunder will have to make adjustments just out of financial necessity at some point, but when George re-signed, there was a commitment to honor the extension of an era. The Thunder window is unquestionably one of the most remarkable and under-sold stories in the sport, a small-market entry franchise that has been competing in the post-season with celebrities and virtual lockers. The Thunder has always won at a level that makes all teams in the NBA except four or five incredibly jealous.
But the question is the next step and how to get there. And really, if it is even possible with the current iteration. George wears a yellow bracelet that says: "Screw without regrets". He signed again with the Thunder for a variety of reasons, but above all, he thought he could win with Westbrook. Does the front office still believe him?
The track seemed unobstructed for them this season, which marks their elimination. They fired the Blazers, who did not want to face them after defeating OKC 0-4 in the regular season, without having their starting center. Jusuf Nurkic. And after that, the San Antonio Spurs or the Denver Nuggets hindered their return to the Western Conference finals.
The defeat against the Blazers is a stern review of the construction of the Thunder and so on, Westbrook. His style encourages evaluation and there have been many. Westbrook changed and stayed the same. Suffice to say that it's Russell Westbrook. He is the player who has won 54 games and 10 playoffs. He is also the player who has not won a series or playoff game on the road since Durant left.
The Thunder has for the first time a real expiry date on the horizon, with Westbrook and George's Window providing a specific timeline. Many times, it seemed like the thunder was about to end an incredible time. Some still see it like that. But they have always found a way to extend it a little longer, to keep hope alive.
Now, is there another answer to the next question, or is the Thunder finally short?
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