Rocket Failure: Houston Rockets 89 - Oklahoma City Thunder 77

After hanging tough for the first half, the Thunder couldn't quite keep up with the Rockets, falling 89-77. The Rockets slowly built their lead throughout the 2nd half, stretching the lead to as much as 16, before settling on the final 12-point margin. Kevin Durant bounced back in a big way with 26 points on 11-20 shooting, and added 5 rebounds and 4 steals. The majority of his damage on mid-range jumpers. Durant shot only 4 free-throws and didn't attempt a 3-pointer. Despite the lack of variety in his offensive game, it was an excellent performance, especially in the first half, where he kept the team in the game almost single-handedly.

The Thunder held the Rockets to 36% shooting from the floor, but the Rockets countered with a significant advantage in free throws (31 attempts compared to just 12 for the Thunder). The Rockets also had a 49-39 edge in rebounding.

While Durant came to play, the rest of the team apparently decided to take the night off. Chris Wilcox continued his struggles against the Rockets, with 2 points and 2 rebounds on 1-6 shooting in 19 low (or perhaps negative) impact negatives. With no one besides Durant providing a consistent threat, Johan Petro and Earl Watson attempted to step up launching a combined 24 shots. Remember the previous post discussing how the Rockets route their offense through their two best players? This was pretty much the exact opposite of that. Watson can be excused, as the Rocket's defense forced many shots late in the shot clock, adding many low-percentage looks to his night. Petro on the other hand should not take 12 shots in any game under any circumstances.

Game Notes: Russell Westbrook's numbers didn't stand out with 6 points in 19 minutes. The one thing Westbrook does bring however is offensive variety. Westbrook is able to get to the rim and his athleticism adds a dimension that Watson lacks... The Thunder again avoided the 3-point line, missing all four attempts... Joe Smith 8 points on efficient 4-6 shooting in 21 minutes. However Smith had two crucial traveling infractions in the 3rd quarter while the Rockets began to pull away... Carlesimo played nine players with Wilcox, Mason, Westbrook and Smith coming off the bench. Stathead All-Star Carl Landry had a strong game with 16 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes.