Oklahoma City Thunder forced Game 7 of their series with the Houston Rockets, defeating Mike D’Antoni’s side 104-100 this Monday night.
Thunder would come back from a nine-point deficit in the third, make advantage of their own, but still get into a dramatic ending. Chris Paul was the man of the match, with several clutch points delivered in this game, from which two threes that leveled the score in the late part of the contest happened to be the most important ones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sll3Tu6L4bI
CP3 ended the game with 28 points, 10-for-20, seven rebounds, three assists and steals each. Paul’s two free throws with 13.1 seconds before the end lifted the OKC to a 102-100 lead. After that Russell Westbrook lost the ball, and Danilo Gallinari nailed two more shots from the line, to give his team a two-possession edge with 3 seconds to go.
The above-mentioned Westbrook destroyed his team in the moments when mattered the most. The former NBA MVP was giving away possessions in the final period, missing shots and not contributing enough in the defensive part of the game.
Russ recorded 7 turnovers, many of them in critical situations, scored 17 points, with four boards and three assists.
James Harden was the most efficient player of the match, with 32 buckets, but with poor shooting from downtown, 3-for-11. The Beard’s presence was felt all over the court with 8 boards, 7 assists, yet he too had too many turnovers, 5.
Robert Covington had a solid match with 18 points, 7-for-11 from the field, and four threes. He also posted five boards and five steals. Danuel House Jr had 12 off the bench.
Gallinari had 25 points, five boards, two steals, and four three-pointers. Luguentz Dort scored 13 in 30 minutes, with three boards and five lost possessions, Dennis Schroder added 12 off the bench, missing all five of his threes, but grabbing 8 rebounds, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 10.
Steven Adams didn’t score as many points as expected, just 6, but he had 14 rebounds, nine of them in the offense, which is a massive contribution.
Both sides haven’t been exactly shiny from outside the three-point line, OKC 12-for-36, and the Rockets 15-for-44.
Game 7 is set for this Wednesday. It is the second pair in the Western Conference to see the seventh match in the playoffs’ first round. The first is Denver Nuggets vs. Utah Jazz.
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