Russell Westbrook dominates in Thunder win over Pelicans
The hamstring injury to Kevin Durant has placed a great deal of responsibility on Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook. It’s not as if he’s unable to shoulder the load — Westbrook got plenty of experience doing so last season and put up unreal numbers — but it’s a difficult situation for a team that expected to diversify its attack in 2015-16. It’s even possible to say that OKC is in danger of regressing.
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The dangers of the setup were especially clear in Wednesday’s home game against the New Orleans Pelicans. Only Enes Kanter joined Westbrook in double figures, and fellow threats Serge Ibaka and Dion Waiters combined for just 10 points on 4-of-21 shooting. Their options were severely limited.
It didn’t matter, though, because Westbrook was good enough to beat an undermanned Pelicans nearly by himself:
The four-time All-Star finished with an efficient 43 points (14-of-25 FG, 15-of-20 FT), nine rebounds, eight assists, and just one foul to lead OKC to a 110-103 win. Kanter added 24 points and 14 rebounds (six offensive).
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Playing without the hobbled Anthony Davis, the Pelicans got a good night from Ryan Anderson (30 points on 13-of-25 shooting) but saw starting guards Ish Smith and Eric Gordon each struggle to score 18 points on 20 shots. New Orleans also shot 8-of-32 from the field and managed only nine free throws (making all of them).
In other words, it was the kind of game that could be dominated by one player. Luckily, OKC had the best player on the court by a wide margin.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
