Russell Westbrook is in trouble

Sixth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder was such a popular choice to upset third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA playoff round that he was not even calling them outsiders. Only one of the 20 ESPN analysts chose the Blazers to take the series, and the ideas were fairly uniform; The Blazers must not only rely on Enes Kanter, but they must also face a formidable OKC defense, while fighting Russell Westbrook's decisive athleticism and Paul George's shooting abilities. After two defeats against the Blazers, Westbrook did not rise to the challenge.

Westbrook has never been an average three-point shooter, but his inability to make sure Portland sticks to the shots like the Thunder's already sticky offense. The defenders spent the entire season bowing to Westbrook, and he responded by shooting 29% on three losses, while continuing at the highest rate of his career. He is only 1 out of 10 in this long-distance series and 13 out of 37. With Jerami Grant and Dennis Schroeder also struggling (they combine a 0-on-16), it's up to Paul George to spread the offensive by itself, which is too much to ask.

Last night, Westbrook had one of the worst playoff games of his career. He finished with 14 points and a record of -27 in 37 minutes. Portland obviously did not respect his shot, and what is more disturbing, they did not bother him. Westbrook is not solely responsible for stopping Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, but the Thunder swept the Blazers in the regular season, and they seemed to have a good idea of ​​how at least Portland's starters could work . Up to here in this series, the pair has a combined average of 58 points per game on a percentage of 45.5 percentage points. This testifies to a lack of pressure. Here Westbrook watches Lillard telegraph to the entire arena that he will stop before letting him go.

Westbrook and Lillard do not get along well, and after two games, Lillard clearly got the better of the game. Not only does he dominate Westbrook, but he defends and defends him, and he is usually a more effective pest. Westbrook confessed this after the match by stating, "The way I played was unacceptable."

This Thunder team is strangely assembled and does not have exactly the capacity to score 130 points per game, but it needs Westbrook to do more if it wants to make a series. The attack is entirely based on the fact that Westbrook creates plans for the others, and if it is not able to do it once the series is transferred to Oklahoma City, the summer will be long.