SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Houston Rockets at Oklahoma City Thunder
FeaturedIn what will be one of the most emotional nights in recent memory, the night of Russell Westbrook’s return is set to be one where there may not be too many dry eyes in the building known as the Chesapeake Energy Arena as the Houston Rockets travel up a state for as the visitors to tonight’s matchup between the Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, set to tip-off at 9:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. CT on TNT.
Since the inception of this Thunder franchise, there have been names aplenty that have donned that signature Thunder blue, but nary have possessed the heart of their prodigal son, and literal in-state hall-of-famer in their fan-dubbed “Brodie” Russell Westbrook. In the 11 years he spent with the franchise, he’s stacked up a really impressive resume’, to put it lightly.
Cite up 8 All-Star selections, 2 All-NBA First Team selections, 2 scoring titles, and a league MVP award given to him back in 2017. Aside from becoming the other guard in NBA History to rack up an averaged triple-double for an entire season for almost three years straight, Russ’ philanthropic efforts in the Oklahoma community and the emotional connection he has with the city will always be appreciated, regardless of what jersey he’s in.
Usually, the narrative in this matchup between these two franchises always finds a way to surround the team with James Harden facing the franchise that dealt him, but tonight’s storylines are much different. It’s been a steady path of diffidence and disconnection regarding the stars who have left the nest of Oklahoma City in the franchise’s history, but Russ was always regarded as the one who tried to see the light at the end of the tunnel, regardless of how poorly the infrastructure was breaking down around him.
Now, with a new Rockets team that’s primed to make a run at the Conference Finals, this Rockets team is walking into OKC winning four of their last five games, and with James Harden just crushing any defensive obstacle in his way. He’s been averaging 38.5 points per game – and will probably finish the season being the second player in league history (other than Wilt Chamberlain) to average a 40-piece per outing.
Other storylines include Chris Paul’s revenge against his old “buddies” in the Rockets, the team that exiled him to Oklahoma City due to his “age”. I mean, he’s been balling like he’s been anything but old, putting up a smooth 16 points and 6.5 assists per game, and the emergence of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who’s coming into his own from averaging 24 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals on 53 percent shooting.
This young-but-really-fun-to-watch Thunder team started the year at 11-14, and are now at 21-16 while sitting at seventh in the Western Conference. This may not be a confirmation that Russ and the Rockets win this one by a considerable margin, so it’ll be a tight contest featuring the native son of Oklahoma City doing battle with a team that’s destined to be somewhere in the upper echelon of talented teams someday.