This beautiful tribute video on behalf of Russell Westbrook’s phenomenal accomplishment may have been the only overly entertaining portion of the regular season finale.
The Denver Nuggets came into the Chesapeake Energy Arena less than a week after Westbrook entered their building, broke Oscar Robertson’s triple-double record and hit the game-winner to completely mesmerize the Nugget’s fans.
That wasn’t the case Wednesday night in Oklahoma City though. A game that started out entertaining took a steady decline towards a bore fest from quarter-to-quarter. The Nuggets beat OKC 111-105 and the Thunder ended the regular season with a (47-35) record.
You could feel the lack of motivation riding through this game. So much that during a timeout in the second quarter, both teams were focused on the Raindrops dance team performing on the court, instead of focusing on what coach was talking about. The Thunder were in control of this game, with a convincing 8-point lead at halftime but Billy Donovan understandably sat Westbrook and Steven Adams in the second half which started the offensive decline for the Thunder that led to the loss.
Jerami Grant and Taj Gibson were the high scorers for the Thunder with 13 apiece, followed by Enes Kanter who scored 12 points and added 5 rebounds. Alex Abrines hasn’t skipped a beat since his knee injury. He finished his night with 11 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes and may be OKC’s hidden weapon in the playoffs. Especially in the series against the Rockets where 3-point shooting is a necessity. Victor Oladipo finished the game as the fifth player in double-figures with 10.
Extra thoughts:
- The ceremony was great. But the Big O casting his MVP vote while starting an MVP chant in the Peake definitely took the cake.
Oscar Robertson casts his ballot. pic.twitter.com/VykTNYhBJ2
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 13, 2017
- Josh Huestis is very good and Billy Donovan should implement him in the playoff rotation if possible. Huestis finished with 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and only 1 foul in 24 minutes. This is a guy that hasn’t yet gotten adjusted to the rhythm of NBA basketball yet, which leaves you wondering what exactly he can be.
- This was probably the most eventful but boring game in the history of the Thunder. During a timeout, this guy happened to hit the $20 thousand halfcourt shot.
A wonderful night of #hist0ry gets even better as Tiandre Nichols from Tulsa hits $20K @MidFirst Bank halfcourt shot!!! pic.twitter.com/XWxvudxGlb
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) April 13, 2017
- Russell Westbrook is a two-time scoring champion. This is the first time he’s won the scoring title and been to the playoffs. His final stat-line of the season is 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game.
First round playoff schedule:
