Russell Westbrook isn’t quite what he used to be, but he can still bring value to the Houston Rockets. The pairing is stuck together for at least this season.
The Houston Rockets have been one of the better teams in the NBA this season. Through 35 games, Mike D’Antoni‘s squad is 24-11, good for third in the competitive Western Conference. The offense has been fantastic, scoring the second-most points per game in the league.
A huge shakeup took place this offseason when point guards Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul were swapped. Desperate for a change, general manager Daryl Morey acquired the 31-year-old floor general in hopes that the move would put Houston over the top.
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The results have been mixed, as Westbrook reuniting with former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate James Harden has seen a bit of a learning curve.
Harden, as usual, is averaging video game-like numbers — 38.4 points, per game, for starters. On top of that, he’s doing so on a solid 46.3 percent clip from the field and is canning 38.6 percent of his 3-point attempts. Harden’s picked up where he left off a year ago, when he finished second in MVP voting to Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Westbrook has also resumed his normal style of play to a certain extent, but it’s also hard to get a solid read on him. While his per-game averages are similar to last year’s, there are some differences in efficiency:
- 2018-19: 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 42.8 field goal percentage, 29.0 3-point percentage
- 2019-20: 24.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 42.6 field goal percentage, 23.5 3-point percentage
Westbrook’s shots are falling at pretty much the same rate they were in 2018-19, but his already-poor 3-ball has now turned into a glaring weakness that can no longer be brushed over. On top of that, like Harden, “The Brodie” turns the ball over at an alarmingly high rate. Instead of having a bounce-back season like many predicted, we’ve seen more of the same from Westbrook.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Rockets’ superstar, though. D’Antoni has rested Westbrook during one game of back-to-backs in an effort to keep his troublesome knees fresh.
While those benefits haven’t been observed on the court, preventative maintenance is important for athletes who rely on explosiveness and high-flying antics — especially ones over the age of 30. Westbrook fits that description to a T.
The last month has been a lot kinder to Westbrook. Since Dec. 7 (12 starts), he’s averaged 27.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game on 23 shots per night. On top of that, he’s converting on 46.4 percent of his field goal attempts and shooting 27.7 percent from deep.
That’s a far cry from efficient, but it’s also much better than what’s been the norm for the former MVP lately.
Perhaps brighter days are ahead for Westbrook. While his play style isn’t always conducive to team play and/or the success of other superstars, it’s easy to forget that he experienced several deep playoff runs with Kevin Durant — including one with Harden back in 2012.
His salary — and the fact that Morey would effectively be throwing in the towel on the 2019-20 season — ensures to a high level of certainty that he’ll be a Rocket for the next few months at the very least.
After all, there could be worse places to be at less than halfway through the season than being one of the best teams in a loaded Western Conference.