The OKC Thunder deliver a statement win over the streaking Houston Rockets sending notice they’re ready to rumble in the playoffs. Player grades tell the story of the thriller. As the OKC Thunder took to the court this evening to play game 81 versus the red hot Houston Rockets there was a palpable playoff atmosphere in the air. By night’s end, the home squad delighted the Thunder fans in attendance at Chesapeake Energy Arena with a thrilling comeback effort to capture the crucial victory. Houston Rockets 111 Oklahoma City Thunder 112 As I sat fully invested in this match it just felt like the end would justify the means. Trailing by 13 points to start the third quarter it was the two OKC Thunder stars Paul George and Russell Westbrook who simply refused to lose. At the 5.24 mark of the fourth the Rockets sagged off Westbrook who connected on a perimeter shot to put the Thunder up by one. From there it was a back and forth teeter totter match where the Rockets seemingly were scrambling. The man who is key among pundits discussions to capture back to back Most Valuable Players awards (James Harden) couldn’t buy a bucket (aside from some questionable foul calls which sent him to the charity stripe). Harden did not hit a field goal in the pivotal fourth quarter. Want your voice heard? Join the Thunderous Intentions team! Write for us! .Conversely, Paul George scored eight points with the most important bucket coming with a mere 1.8 seconds remaining. And, this came off a Russell Westbrook pass which was far more difficult then he made it look as he had to dodge four different defenders who attempted to cut him off from entering the offensive zone. Fittingly, the assist which led to the George triple was Westbrook’s 10th giving him his 33rd triple-double of the season. That pulled him within one of catching Magic Johnson for second all-time in total career triple-doubles. With that let’s dive into the player grades.<doc-sep>So the season comes down to tonight. It was always going to. That’s the schedule, after all. There has to be a final night before the playoffs begin, and tonight is it. So let’s meander into the...wait...our seeding could change with tonight’s games? A slate of games that Darren and other helpfully point out, no one seems to want to win. I thought the Rockets sort of blew their chances to officially notch an amazing turnaround last night? Is it still complicated? I’m feeling pain. Anguish. A burning sensation. And dry mouth. Is there a doctor on the blog? Ah, AK is here to help, if not get well, at least get some fast temporary relief from our confusion.<doc-sep>The Thunder completed an unlikely comeback against the Rockets in their final home game of the season, overcoming a 13 point 4th quarter deficit to grab the game at the end and win, 112-111. Russell Westbrook and Paul George led the comeback, and through a combination of timely shooting, smart defense, and a little luck, OKC took the final one against the Rockets, winning the regular season series, 3-1. This game also followed the pattern of the previous game where OKC completed a 26 point comeback to win on the road. With the Rockets, not playing at the hyperspeed we saw when they crushed the Suns in part by hitting an NBA-record 27 threes, they still showcased why they’ve been the most dangerous team in the 2nd half of the season. Their blend of systematic offense combined with purposeful defense build small leads each quarter, which gave them some cushion to work with in the 4th. But just as OKC did against Houston last time, their defense went to work. With greater confidence and awareness, they held James Harden to zero makes in the 4th quarter. Harden’s night overall was sub-par by his elite standards (39 points on 11-28 shooting, 5-15 from three), but the lockdown on him in the 4th was critical. Overall, the Rockets shot only 28% from the floor and 18% from three to go along with 4 turnovers. But none of it would have mattered had OKC not been able to convert on the other end, and once again Russell Westbrook came to play. Using the 3-point shot — his personal nemesis for most of this season — OKC caught the Rockets 8 minutes in and took the lead. Westbrook would finish the quarter with 13 points (out of his 29 overall), including 3-5 from three, to go along with 2 assists. And the last one was a doozy. With OKC desperately trying to make up a 4 point deficit with under 30 seconds to go, Westbrook hit a cover-your-eyes-it’s-good! three to pull them within one. Following 2 Harden free throws and a Westbrook dunk to keep it at a one point deficit, OKC needed a little bit of luck. They got it. Harden, who has taken over 800 free throws this season and made over 700 of them, missed. And then we saw something seen about as often as the tuatara — Westbrook actually showed restraint, patience, and purpose while under pressure. With under 10 seconds remaining and no timeouts, he busted a trap, found an outlet, reclaimed the rock, and with his 10th assist on the night, scoring him yet another triple-double, he found OKC’s most consistent and best player this year in Paul George in the corner, only guarded by the smaller P.J. Tucker. Here’s your look. James Harden misses a free throw Russell Westbrook grabs his 12th rebound then picks up his 10th assist as Paul George knocks down the game-winning three! Via @HoHighlights pic.twitter.com/EODCXZB9x9 — Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 10, 2019 It’s kind of remarkable, and not the last shot only. The entire final 1:37 was textbook in how to give yourself a chance to win despite trailing by 2 scores. Westbrook worked for easy shots at the rim twice, they didn’t give up any easy scores on the other end, and they were ready to capitalize when the mistake was made. Furthermore, that final sequence was done without a timeout and the clock running down, and there were about 5 points where we could have seen OKC fall into trappings we’ve seen them do before in the form of hasty passes, lack of awareness of traps, and long, contested threes that don’t need to be taken yet. It was downright Spurs-ian. And it gives the Thunder a little bit more to build on heading into tomorrow night’s game, where the Bucks are reportedly planning on resting Giannis and Brook Lopez. As for tomorrow? Perk has got your back. He better! — Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) April 10, 2019 Last game of season: @ Bucks tomorrow night at 7PM CST<doc-sep>
Well, since the Houston Rockets screwed the proverbial pooch last night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, we’re really no closer to a solution for Houston’s playoff seeding than when I broke things down earlier in the week. The Rockets can still technically finish anywhere from the two-seed through the four-seed. If the Denver Nuggets lose to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Portland Trail Blazers lose to the Sacramento Kings, the Rockets will still grab the two-seed. If the Nuggets win and the Blazers lose, the Rockets stay in third place. However, if both Portland and Denver win, the Rockets will fall all the way down the fourth seed, which is notable, because that moves any potential playoff matchup with the Golden State Warriors out of the Western Conference Finals and into the second round. Oh, and by the way, Damian Lillard is out tonight for Portland, along with CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic, of course. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are OUT tonight vs the Sacramento Kings due to load management. Looks like they'd be content with losing. If they lose, the #Rockets would slide into the 3 seed, likely facing OKC in the first round. If Denver loses, Houston slides to the 2 seed. — Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) April 10, 2019 Not to be outdone, the Wolves will be without practically their entire team tonight against Denver. #Twolves injury report for tonight's game at Denver: Bayless, Covington, Deng, Rose, Teague are all OUT. Gibson and Towns are both DOUBTFUL. — Timberwolves PR (@Twolves_PR) April 10, 2019 So at least on paper, it appears that a very likely scenario is that the Nuggets win and the Blazers lose, keeping Houston at the three-seed and matching up with the Thunder in round one, but holds off a possible Dubs series until the West Finals. A jump to second puts them against the Spurs in the first round and Golden State to close out the West, while a slippage to fourth likely gets them the Jazz in round one (but again, the Warriors in round two). Obviously the optimum scenario from an overall matchup standpoint is the two seed, but after that, it’s a total crap shoot between the path as a three and the path as a four. Either way, it’s going to take 12 to win the West, there are no truly easy series, and Houston will have their work cut out for them coming out of a very difficult Western Conference.