For all the talk of Kawhi being great because he's a "system player", not many people understand the system that Popovich runs.
After dominating the competition in 2016-2017, the Rockets have the pleasure and opportunity to host the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.
That last stat happened just 42 times this season, and Davis was responsible for a league-best 14 of them. With two sixth man of the year candidates in Eric Gordon and Lou Williams, along with Ryan Anderson, Trevor Ariza and Harden, they fired an unbelievable 40.1 three-pointers per game in the regular season - making an National Basketball Association record 1,181 of them. As of writing this article, James Harden's Rockets have won 54 games this season as opposed to 46 by Westbrook's Thunder.
With only a 47-35 record, does Westbrook still deserve the MVP award? Each team has two players averaging over 20 points per game and five players averaging over 10 points per game.
Last season the Rockets needed to win their final regular-season game to make the postseason and reach a 41-41 record. He played only 18 minutes (scoring 5 points) in Wednesday's 111-105 loss to the Nuggets. The Thunder only won the first meeting, 105-103, on November 16 at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Rockets led, 90-85, after three periods, but OKC outscored then 20-13 in the fourth. The preseason cynicism about Harden's move to the full-time point guard upon Mike D'Antoni's arrival was wiped away rather quickly as Houston was second in the National Basketball Association in offensive rating and third in pace.
The Thunder's Russell Westbrook and the Rockets' Patrick Beverley shared the court for 64 minutes over four games during the regular season. He had the storyline of the jilted lover after Kevin Durant's departure for Golden State, and he went on a rampage through the league that many expected. Jordan and Rudy Gobert both eat up a lot of space in the middle, and Utah's good enough to steal a game or two, but I don't think the Clippers let this one slide by.
Both guys are considered MVP frontrunners, and both guys will have something to prove when their respective teams square off in the first round. Houston did so by blending what it does well with negating in part what makes Oklahoma City so potent, excluding its reliance on Westbrook. If the Thunder needs an extra-long defender on Harden, someone to match up and contest shots by Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza or someone to block shots, Grant might be just the man to do it.
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Further footage appeared to show him standing in the aisle, shocked and bloodied saying: "I want to go home, I want to go home". The guards grabbed the Asian doctor in an aggressive manner and dragged him down the aisle of the plane.
Houston capitalized with 29 points off 19 OKC turnovers.
Westbrook averaged a triple-double (31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists), something that hasn't been done since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-62 season. Westbrook had a 27-10-10 on December 9.
The Rockets earned their 55th victory of the season with a 123-118 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The game was tied at 116-116 with 1:49 to go.
Westbrook's driving bank shot with 52 seconds left didn't go in. Westbrook missed a 3-pointer with 5.9 seconds remaining. The Thunder rank third in fastbreak points (the Rockets come in at four). Steven Adams, Enes Kanter and Victor Oladipo are all former lottery picks.
It's Westbrook in my book, although I'm starting to get the suspicion that the voting won't turn out this way. Houston experienced this success without transcendent performances from its MVP candidate, Harden. They also played more minutes than Leonard - 250 more for Westbrook, and 450 for HardenAgain: Replace Westbrook with Schroder, or even Jeff Teague, and this might be a 25- or 30-win team. Houston led from the outset and never relinquished it. The Rockets set a record for three-pointers made with 1,181.
Roberson feels the same way about Harden. He finished the game with five personal fouls. He finished with 22 points and 12 assists. But Harden is averaging 56.4 points accounted for a game this year.
"This time of year, because you're not in back-to-back situations, but you're going to play at the earliest every other day, there's more rest time in the playoffs", he said. And while it was Harden leading the charge, as he said, there was help.
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