Thunder-Rockets Was Great Theater, and Highlighted the Differences Between Both Teams

One sequence, even if it's the last one of the evening, doesn't tell the whole story, especially in a game as wild and point-heavy as Thursday's meeting between the Thunder and Rockets in Houston. Still, on this night, the final moments did a pretty good job summing things up. With a handful of seconds left and the score tied at 116, Russell Westbrook dribbled for a while, crossed over James Harden, and tossed up a three-pointer that bounced off the back rim. On the other end, Harden came off a screen, caught the inbound, and spotted an open Nenê cutting to the basket. Harden looped a little pass, Nenê caught it and was fouled, and his two free-throws effectively ended the game.

In a showdown between the two presumptive leaders in the NBA's MVP race, Westbrook won the individual duel, putting up 49 points to Harden's 26 and hitting a career-high eight threes. The Oklahoma City point guard/flashbang grenade spent most of his 37 minutes of court time going exactly where he wanted against the Houston defense. He skidded to stops at the elbow for midrange jumpers, backed down Patrick Beverley and canned fadeaways over him, and repeatedly did that thing where in one frame he's dribbling at the perimeter and in the next he's at the rim and high in the air, depositing a layup. For the most part, he was unstoppable, and Harden was just OK.

Harden had help, though. There were sprinklings of his usual virtuosic bucket-getting—a drowsy first-quarter Euro-step around Westbrook occasioned some top-notch replay work from the TNT crew—but the other Rockets pitched in plenty. All five Houston starters scored in double-figures. Before hitting the game-winning free-throws, Nenê subjected the Thunder front line to his whole catalog of old-timer drop-steps, and Eric Gordon came off the bench to put up 22 points on five made triples. As would be expected of the NBA's assist leader, Harden was more than willing to accommodate his teammates; if dishes like this odd-angled, Steven Adams-obscured bounce pass to Nenê in the third now fail to astonish, it's only because he's somehow gotten us used to them.

There are corners of the NBA chattersphere that will position Thursday's game as a referendum. Russ Needs to Share More, that sort of thing. It's Not a One-on-One Game. These hot-burning and quick-dying takes will ignore, for their brief spans, not only Westbrook's own assist numbers (10.3 per game, trailing only Harden across the league) but also the essential differences between the two teams. Over a few seasons, Houston has put together a roster suited to the talents of its best player, all spot-up marksmen and rolling big men happy to watch their leader dribble for ten seconds at a time. In its first Durant-less campaign, Oklahoma City just has to make do. Consider the difference between Gordon and Victor Oladipo, Westbrook's nominal running mate. Gordon comes on at the end of Rockets games and offers Harden one of the NBA's best shooters as a target, spacing the floor and letting him create. Oladipo, while he's stretching his range a bit, likes to have the ball and drive—coincidentally, just what Westbrook prefers.

Some small solace to the Thunder, who have now dropped three straight, and their fans: hours before tip, Cleveland traded for Kyle Korver. The Cavs and Warriors are going to play in the Finals, every season, forever. Nothing the Rockets or Thunder or anyone else does matters. So don't sweat it, and enjoy the show.