Precarious Position: Thunder Falls To Houston

Oklahoma City lost for the fifth time in the last six games, falling to Houston on Sunday, 115-112. 

Sunday, April 5th 2015, 4:07 pm

By: News 9


As a desperate 33-footer from Russell Westbrook fell short of its target at the buzzer, Oklahoma City moved closer to postseason disappointment and exclusion.

The game-tying attempt left the Thunder on the short end of a 115-112 decision at the hands of the Houston Rockets on Sunday, the fifth loss in the last six games for Oklahoma City.

The latest loss for the Thunder left OKC just a half game up on New Orleans for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, with San Antonio coming to town Tuesday night. As the losses pile up at the most critical juncture of the season, it's looking like the Thunder just may not have enough left in the tank.

Oklahoma City has been a desperate team since the second game of the season when Westbrook went down with a broken finger. Desperate teams play harder and with greater urgency, but that doesn't equal efficiency or wise play.

The Westbrook heave at the end could be analyzed as another unimaginative end-game out-of-bounds play from Scott Brooks but instead, it showed he and Westbrook simply don't trust anyone else enough. The Thunder needed a 3-pointer to tie the game with 3.4 seconds left. Anthony Morrow had been sensational all day, hitting 6-of-8 from behind the arc and seemed like a terrific candidate to get the final shot.

But Morrow was merely the inbounder on that final play, a baffling decision to say the least. Instead of the best shooter on the team getting an open look, the Thunder settled for Westbrook anticipating a foul from Houston's Corey Brewer, and then chucking up a heave when he felt a foul had occurred. No foul was called, and another potential win became a loss.

Westbrook has made tremendous strides this season, but in critical moments, he still defers to himself instead of his teammates, teammates that are more than capable of hitting the big shot when it counts. Wednesday against Dallas, Westbrook gathered in an offensive rebounded, sprinted to the 3-point line and hurled a wild 3-pointer in an attempt to tie the game. In the process, he ignored a wide-open Morrow after Morrow had put together yet another terrific game.

The Thunder has always gone as far as its stars can take them, but right now it's just Westbrook and he can't do it on his own. The most important thing he tends to forget is that he doesn't have to do it alone.

Westbrook had his 11th triple-double of the season, finishing with 40 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds. He staged a terrific battle with former teammate and fellow MVP candidate and scoring champion adversary James Harden, who finished with 41 points, including a pair of back-breaking 3-pointers in the final minutes after Westbrook tied the score at 100 with 3:12 remaining.

Oklahoma City can't afford to ride Westbrook through the finish of the regular season like it has ridden its stars for five years. Regardless of what Westbrook says, he's going to wear down eventually and then the Thunder is going to be in a world of hurt. If that occurs in the playoffs against Golden State, it will only make a likely ugly series even uglier. But if it occurs before then, it will almost assuredly cost the Thunder and its' young roster valuable playoff experience.

The thing is, it looked like the Thunder had figured this out three weeks ago against Chicago. Late in that game, Westbrook made that critical pass to Morrow for a dagger 3-pointer. That win was the second in a string of six wins in seven games that put the Thunder in a comfortable position for that final playoff spot.

But then came more bad defense, this time accompanied by games where shots simply didn't fall. It's resulted in this current string of losses that have put Oklahoma City's playoff chances in serious doubt.

It looks like the Thunder are running out of gas at the worst possible time. The only question that remains is do they have enough in the tank, or will they run out just before the finish line?

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