The Thunder and Rockets put on a show tonight in Game 7. This game was as close as it could get and down to the wire just how it’s supposed to be with a 4th and 5th seed. All series long the Rockets were leaving Lugentz Dort open and challenging him to beat them. Well, tonight the undrafted rookie made the Rockets pay big time as he finished with a career-high 30 points. Tonight Dort was shooting with confidence and he was able to attack the rim when given the chance. Tonight Lugentz Dort shot 10/21 from the field but made the best of the 3 point opportunities as he shot 6/12 for 50%. He’s the youngest player since LeBron James to score that many points in a playoff game. The Thunder took a chance on Lugentz Dort and that chance proved to pay off big time. The Thunder signed Dort to a four-year deal worth $5.4 million dollars but Dort proved that you can’t put a number on heart/energy. Tonight was all about the play of Lugentz Dort and the way he stepped up in the biggest spotlight moment. Not too many people can score 30 points in a game while holding James Harden to 17 points on the night. All series long Dort was making it tough on Harden and after tonight he’s gained a lot more fans and respect around the NBA.
The Thunder had 5 players in double figures on the night and it was tough down the stretch getting good looks. OKC’s usually the clutch team down the stretch but they were only able to score 6 points in the final minutes of the game. Chris Paul finished with a triple-double of 19 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds on the night. CP3 was able to get to his spots but the ball just didn’t go in for him tonight like in previous games. Even when he’s struggling from the field Paul was able to put his team in a position to win. CP3 showed everyone that doubted him that he’s still in great shape and that he’s still as elite as ever. Chris Paul willed this team throughout the year and the last couple of plays didn’t go as OKC wanted but sometimes these moments are a great lesson. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 19 points as he was able to bounce back in this game tonight. SGA had a huge 3 pointer late in the game that put OKC up by 1 with less than a minute. SGA was aggressive tonight and attacked the paint while hitting his jumpers. All this showed was that OKC has a bright star on their hands and someone that’s not scared of the big moments. Shai came back to the NBA restart ready to go locked in but OKC just fell short this time. This was only his second season in the NBA and he put the league on notice moving forward that he’s a rising star and has so much promise.
Danilo Gallinari and Dennis Schröder played okay but if they would have added a little bit throughout the game OKC could have won. Both of them combined for 16 points on the night and weren’t playing up to the caliber they usually play at. Credit the Rockets for all the switching that they did on the defensive end. Both Gallinari and Schröder came into Game 7 averaging a combined 35 ppg so if they added a little bit more to their performance tonight things could be different. Tonight Steven Adams added 10 points and 9 rebounds as the biggest guy in this series and played very good on the rebounds all series. The Thunder had great role players and both those guys did a great job on the season and stepped up when no one even thought they could. So many people counted this OKC team out but they had 6th Man of the Year and Coach of the Year candidates. This team had a 0.2% chance to make the playoffs and they exceeded all expectations.
The Houston Rockets will be heading to the second round to play the LA Lakers who are well-rested waiting for them. Before they could do that the OKC Thunder gave them all they could handle in Game 7. Tonight James Harden didn’t have it going as he finished with 17 points and wasn’t able to get anything going on the offensive end. It was Harden’s defense that showed up big time as he was able to block Lugentz Dort on a 3 point attempt that sealed the game for Houston. Harden struggled but got a combined 61 points from his teammates tonight that showed up in the biggest moments(Westbrook, Covington, Gordon). Those three played lights out tonight and made some big shots down the stretch to help the Rockets get to the next round. Westbrook was able to hit on his midrange tonight and was able to attack when he wanted with smaller defenders on him. Overall the Rockets proved for this round that the small ball worked and it also could have saved Mike D’Antoni’s job as well. The Rockets will be playing the Lakers after this hard-fought series against OKC.
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