It’s been a while since a team hung 130-plus points on the Warriors. But that’s what the Oklahoma City Thunder did in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals Sunday night, dismantling them, 133-105.
The Warriors get a lot of credit for their beautiful and revolutionary offense, but they’ve been one of the best defensive teams in the league too. They had given up more than 130 points only once previously and were tied for the No. 4 defense during the regular season.
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That all changed thanks to Russell Westbrook and his one-man fast break. Westbrook was the engine that made the Thunder go Sunday. The team scored 21 points within the first eight seconds of the shot clock off Westbrook points, free throws, or assists. Did I mention that Westbrook sat the entire fourth quarter?
For comparison, the Warriors, who have been one of the best running teams in the league, had only 13 fast break points as a team in the entire game.
Westbrook isn’t the most efficient fast break player in the league. He’s often been criticized for not being as good of a finisher at the basket as other stars. But the way in which he can create those opportunities out of thin air is nothing short of amazing.
Every team in the league wants to be able to create easy baskets off transition looks. But while other teams try to run primarily off long rebounds or turnovers, Westbrook was able to create fast break layups off the Warriors’ misses at the rim in Game 3. That is a unique ability and the envy of 29 other coaches in the league.
When Westbrook caught the ball on this outlet pass off a missed dunk by Festus Ezeli, the Warriors still had three of their better defenders back in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Point guards are taught to probe defenses for initial openings, then bring the ball back out if nothing is there. This is one of those situations that shows how special Westbrook is. There’s nothing there, and almost any other point guard would have waited to set something up in the half court. But Westbrook acted like the wall of Warriors weren’t even there, splitting right through them for a layup.
Even when the Warriors had all five guys back, Westbrook was able to create opportunities out of absolutely nothing.
The Warriors brought a soft double-team while Westbrook was bringing the ball up for the sole purpose of denying him drives early in the clock. It didn’t matter. He easily split the double, giving a little glance in one direction, then a using sudden burst of acceleration the other direction to leave Shaun Livingston and Andrew Bogut in the dust.
It is difficult enough to try and stop Westbrook by himself. But Westbrook is also great at finding Kevin Durant on these plays. Westbrook is able to pull in defenders in with his gravity and knows exactly where Durant is so he can dump the ball off when that happens.
On the following fast break, Durant began signaling to Westbrook 30 feet from the basket by raising his fist and cutting to the basket. Westbrook sucked in three defenders before passing off to Durant for the dunk.
The Warriors had four men back to only three for the Thunder. They contained Westbrook. Yet the Thunder still got an uncontested dunk out of the possession. That has to be disheartening. It also reveals a scary truth: There’s no good way for the Warriors to solve their Westbrook problem. He and Durant have generated the most points in transition during the playoffs, and by a fairly large margin.
Westbrook is a complete freak of nature. He’s presented an enormous problem for the Warriors based on his athleticism and his ability to put immense pressure even when the Warriors get back quickly on defense. When he is as determined as he has been to push the ball to the rim, there is very little the Warriors can do to stop him. Unless Warriors coach Steve Kerr finds some sort of adjustment, his team may not be able to recover from their 2-1 deficit in the series.