Thunder survive Rockets: 3 takeaways from Game 3

The Thunder survived the Houston Rockets, 115-113, on Friday night, cutting the Houston lead in the series to 2-1. Here are three takeaways from Game 3.

In my takeaways from Game 2 of this series between Oklahoma City and Houston, I said that the Rockets were just a better overall basketball team. And while that still may be true, the Thunder showed on Friday night they’re not going down without a fight. For the first time in this series, OKC played the full 48 minutes and walked away with a hard-fought 115-113 win, cutting the Rockets lead in the series to 2-1 heading into Sunday afternoon’s Game 4.

As they did in Game 2, the Thunder got off to a great start, outscoring the visitors 11-2 in the first three and a half minutes. They hit 11 of their first 14 shots and took a nine-point lead into the second quarter. Houston was able to cut that deficit by two heading into halftime, 65-58, and came out hot in the third quarter, using a 9-0 run, six of those points coming from James Harden, to take their first lead of the game at 67-65. But Oklahoma City came right back with a 9-0 run of their own and increased the lead to 10 heading into the final frame.

Houston certainly wasn’t going to go down easy and they fought hard to get back into the game. The two teams went back and forth but the Thunder never got out of control like they did on Wednesday night and hung on for the win as a Harden three-point attempt missed at the buzzer. This was a very entertaining game to watch and here’s a few takeaways from Game 3.

Takeaways

Russell Westbrook stayed under control. Mr. Triple-Double was a completely different player in Game 3 than he was on Wednesday night. After taking 43 shots in Game 2, Westbrook stayed within himself and was much more efficient on Friday night, not settling for the 3-point shot (he took only one on the night) and instead taking advantage of some mismatches on the high pick and roll and knocking down a number of beautiful mid-range jumpers. He was 11-for-24 from the floor and scored a team-high 32 points. He also trusted his teammates much more and made sure they were involved all night, dishing out 11 assists to go along with 13 rebounds to complete his second straight triple-double in the series.

He just looked completely different out there in Game 3. He looked like more of an MVP.

The OKC supporting cast came to play. Outside of Andre Roberson, nobody had really stepped up in the first two games for Oklahoma City but Friday night was a completely different story as the supporting cast came up huge. Maybe it was the home crowd or the must-win mentality but this was a different basketball team. Taj Gibson was a monster in Game 3, coming out of the gate hot, scoring 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the opening quarter and finishing with 20 points, going 10-for-13 from the floor. Victor Oladipo also looked much better, going 5-for-8, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, for 12 points, which is just five short of his combined point total in the first two games of the series. Roberson was also once again surprisingly good on the offensive end, adding a dozen points of his own while Enes Kanter came up big off the bench to score 10. The Thunder are still waiting for Steven Adams to have a big game but he had a key tip-in late in the fourth quarter to give OKC a 113-111 lead.

And it’s not as if the Houston supporting cast was bad as Lou Williams had another strong outing with 22 points and Ryan Anderson had his best offensive game of the series with 18 points but the Thunder were just a little bit better and that was the difference in the game.

James Harden is cool as ice. I know James Harden had a good look to win the game and missed it but this guy just doesn’t ever seem to be worried about anything. Even when the Rockets got down, he just looked as cool as can be and continued to play his game, something Westbrook got away from in Game 2 when he was trying to bring his team back. Harden had a brilliant night on Friday, scoring a game-high 44 points on 11-for-21 shooting and went an amazing 18-for-18 from the free throw line. He also had six assists and grabbed six boards. The Beard just never seems to waiver from who he is and that’s what’s made him one of the best players in the NBA.

Next: 30 best shots in NBA playoff history

Be sure to check back in with FanSided each and every day for continuing coverage of this and every series of these 2017 NBA Playoffs.