All of the slander that has been focused on Russell Westbrook has become a bit maddening. So as Game 2 is on its way, I decided to do a research project. Real simple one…how well did OKC perform when Westbrook got more field goal attempts than Durant. Let’s check the books…
OKC is 15-7 (68%) in the regular and post-season combined when Westbrook outshoots Durant…versus 44-22 (66%) when he doesn’t. That’s 22 of a possible 81 regular season games played.
In other words, Westbrook outshot Durant in 27% of all of OKC games this year.
OKC is 13-5 (72%) in the regular season, and 7-5 (58%) versus playoff teams.
In 4 playoff games versus Denver/Memphis, OKC was 2-2. 2-1 versus Denver, and 0-1 versus Memphis.
In those 4 playoff games, Russ averaged 27.8 points, KD averaged 32.6 points.
Conclusion…Russell is capable of leading when KD can’t. He helped them beat SAS, LAL, ORL in reg. season, but its obvious that the better teams in the league fare better with Westbrook shooting more than Durant. That’s just common sense, KD’s a much better shooter.
However, for all of the improvement that Westbrook has made with in his offensive arsenal, Russ has to understand the flow of the game. If he figures it out OKC will be just fine. The man is 22 years old and realistically is still figuring out how to play point guard, how to defer to #35, and how to keep his emotions in check. Russell’s emotions are what make him great, he feeds off it.
Let #0 live, OKC wouldn’t be as great as they were without Westbrook.
I’m done.
