Doc Rivers on Rockets, Westbrook: ‘We forget the other MVP’

Clippers coach Doc Rivers credited Russell Westbrook and P.J. Tucker as game-changers for the Houston Rockets in Thursday’s comeback win.

The Clippers limited Houston star and perennial MVP candidate James Harden to 28 points on 16 shots in Thursday’s game at Staples Center, which is more than 10 points below his season average and tied for Harden’s fifth-lowest total of the year.

Los Angeles head coach Doc Rivers said postgame that he liked his team’s overall defensive balance on Harden, who averaged 42 points in a pair of games between the same teams in November.

Yet the Rockets (19-9) still defeated the Clippers (21-9) in Thursday’s matchup of perceived NBA title contenders, 122-117 (box score), in large part due to other guys who stepped up on the Houston roster.

Russell Westbrook scored a season-high 40 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds, while P.J. Tucker brought infectious energy with 12 rebounds, two blocks, a steal, and suffocating defense on Kawhi Leonard.

Despite trailing by 16 points with under nine minutes left in the third quarter and by six points with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Rockets rallied back each time with 40-12 and 17-2 bursts.

Within that first run, Rivers appeared most perturbed by a 16-2 run late in the third and early in the fourth quarters when Harden was actually on the bench. He explained in his postgame interview:

The biggest run they made was when James went out. That was with a bunch of guys on the floor and Russ. And Russ decided, ‘I’m taking this game over.’ And all the other role players played their role for him. They did a great job.

We talked about that this morning, when James goes out of the game, Russ becomes ‘Oklahoma Russ,’ and we didn’t handle it very well.

From a tactical standpoint, Rivers said he thought his defenders were too aggressive against the ultra-quick Westbrook in the backcourt β€” which allowed him to blow past the wave of defenders.

We give so much attention to Harden that we forget the other MVP that’s on their team. You’ve got to respect him and play him the right way.

I thought we lost our discipline a lot on him tonight, especially in transition. We were jabbing at the ball in the backcourt. Once he gets in front of you, you’re not catching him, at least nobody that I’ve seen. And I thought that happened over and over again in the second half.

Harden did have 10 assists for the game, and his 28 points came on efficient 8-of-16 (50%) shooting, including 5-of-11 (45.5%) on three-pointers. The presence of the NBA’s scoring leader and the attention he draws from opposing defenses certainly makes the game easier for Westbrook and others who play with him.

But in those minutes without Harden, Westbrook showed that he was still capable of leading a team himself, too. Rivers seemed to agree:

Russ changed the game. Russ and Tucker were the two guys that changed the game for them. I thought Tucker’s defense and just overall toughness on everybody. Whoever he guarded, he got every loose ball, he got steals, I thought just his defensive energy and intensity changed the game for them.

It’s not as if Thursday’s performance was an outlier for Westbrook, either. In his last six games, the 2017 MVP has averaged 29.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.7 assists for the Rockets on 50.4% shooting overall and nearly 30% on three-pointers.

“It’s coming,” Westbrook said postgame about his integration into the Rockets’ offense after spending his first 11 seasons in Oklahoma City.

“As the season goes along, I figure out a way to make my impact on the game,” Westbrook said. “Whatever it is, scoring, defending, rebounding, passing. The game will kind of tell me what I need to do.”

Westbrook and the Rockets (19-9) return to action Saturday night at Phoenix (11-16) for the second game of a four-game West Coast road trip. The Rockets have now won eight of their last 11 games overall.

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