OKC Thunder vs Houston Rockets: Game 2 preview

Alex Abrines had just two shot attempts.

Houston won Game 1 of the series on Sunday night, 118-87. But he can rely on history, which shows Westbrook doesn't string together ghastly performances.

The Thunder are a better team than Memphis. "Can't change up anything, man". Beverley is probably not going to score 21 points again and he is not going to hold Westbrook to 22 points again. And stating that Westbrook tends to bounce back from off nights isn't just an anecdotal throwaway. Westbrook and Oladipo shot a combined 20 percent from the floor. However, three of the four regular season games between the Rockets and Thunder came down to the wire, decided by three points or fewer.

Some of his best games of the year followed those terrible shooting displays. He shot 4 of 16 in the final Golden State matchup.

Despite losing by 31 in game one, Westbrook is as confident as ever. He had that rotten line against the Suns in April, the one that became famous for the profane flavor he added to his stats while reciting that he was 6 of 25. Beverley went off with four triples, and he really put the game away in the third quarter.

Afterward, the camera happened to zoom in on Thunder coach Billy Donovan, and just as it did, he appeared to tell assistant coach Mo Cheeks he "can't play Kanter". "I've seen it all already", Westbrook said, when asked whether he'd broken down film of how Beverley defended him in Game 1. "I think we did not make good enough decisions in terms of having enough resistance at the basket, some may have been them concerned about stopping the three, but I think we can do better in those areas than we did certainly tonight". "But I don't worry about nobody ... I can pretty much do what I wanna do". The quality of defense is no fluke. It's all about money but I will still do my best to offer you the best LEGAL way to watch your favorite team.

"My opinion on all-defensive team is different than you guys", he said ahead of Wednesday's Game 2.

Before anyone shoves this down my throat, I know Kevin Durant isn't on the team anymore. The game tips off at 8:00 PM EST in Toyota Center.