Rockets fight back to take 2-0 lead on Thunder: 3 takeaways from Game 2

The Houston Rockets fought back in the fourth quarter of their Game 2 matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder to take a 2-0 lead in this first-round best-of-seven series.

This is more what people were expecting from this first-round matchup between the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder and yet it still doesn’t seem as close as the score would indicate. The Thunder came out firing in the first, hitting 8 of their first 11 shots to take a 16-4 lead and held a nine-point lead after the first period. The Rockets were able to keep things close in the second, outscoring the Thunder 36-33 to cut into the lead a bit with OKC taking a 68-62 lead at the half. Russell Westbrook nearly had a triple-double in the first 24 minutes, putting up 22 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists.

The Thunder opened the lead back up to double digits in the third but the Rockets fought back behind some great play off the bench and ended the quarter on a 12-3 run to cut the lead to three at 89-86. And then, all of the good things that the Thunder had done all night went away in the fourth.

Westbrook struggled to get anything done (more in that in a minute) and Houston took advantage, taking their first lead of the game, 96-94, with just over eight minutes to play and that all happened with James Harden on the bench. Harden obviously returned for the home stretch and the Rockets just had everything go their way and while Westbrook — and only Westbrook — tried desperately to get back into it, Houston walked out of the Toyota Center with a 2-0 lead as the series now heads to Oklahoma City.

Let’s take a look at a few takeaways from Game 2.

Takeaways

Russell Westbrook is the only real weapon for Oklahoma City. It’s not a state secret that as Russell Westbrook goes, the Oklahoma City Thunder go, but this was a little ridiculous. Yes, the line looks good. Westbrook finished with 51 points — which is the most ever in a playoff triple-double — 13 assists (only three of those came in the second half) and 10 rebounds (only two of those came in the second half), but he became a completely different player after halftime.

The team is always going to be on his shoulders but there was no real structure in the second half. It was Westbrook putting up shots and everybody else just watching him go. He took 43 total shots, making just 17 of them (39.5 percent) and shot an abysmal 4-for-18 in the fourth quarter, including a couple of really bad 3-point attempts as the end of the game drew near.

OKC had two other players in double figures with Andre Roberson having another decent game with 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting and Victor Oladipo played better with 11 points but was still just 4-for-11 from the floor. Brodie needs help and he’s not getting it. Taj Gibson started hot but then just disappeared, and Steven Adams put up just five points on the night.

The Thunder were more aggressive … at least for a while. This plays a bit into what I was talking about with Westbrook and his tale of two halves but it was really the entire team that’s guilty of not playing the full 48 minutes. They came out fired up and looked like a completely different team than they did on Sunday night. They were aggressive on the boards and on the defensive end, forcing Houston into some tough shots, which is why the Rockets missed their first seven three-point attempts.

The Thunder were flying out at shooters, rotating nicely and everything seemed to be in order. They looked like the team that was the best in the NBA this season in the paint, outscoring Houston by eight in the lane in the first quarter and they were also up five in second-chance opportunities. Then they just got away from it with no real explanation for it.

The Rockets are just better. That may seem a bit like a copout but that’s just the way it is. James Harden had another great game, scoring 35 points, going just 7-for-17 from the floor but an impressive 18-for-20 from the free throw line, dishing out eight assists and grabbing four boards. He just has the help that Russell Westbrook doesn’t.

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Patrick Beverley had another solid and efficient night with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting and they got some huge help off the bench as Eric Gordon put up 22 points while Lou Williams added 21 of his own. Both hit 3s from beyond the arc and both were also 8-for-14 from the field. Oklahoma City just can’t match up and it’s becoming more and more obvious.