Ranking the 15 best performances in the NBA this season

11. Russell Westbrook does micro ball justice (02/06/20)

The Houston Rockets near-deadline decision to trade Clint Capela for Robert Covington brought out plenty of opinions on both sides of the discussion.

Never before had a team embraced small-ball to this extreme, where Houston would trot out a starting lineup with 6’5” P.J. Tucker manning the interior and no player taller than 6’7”.

In doing so, the Rockets would play to the strengths they already go to great lengths to utilize, stretching defenses farther than ever to create a seemingly unsolvable offensive puzzle.

Only time would tell whether the lack of size in the middle would come back to bite the new-look Rockets, whose first go-around came in a nationally televised road contest against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Heading into the game against LA, Russell Westbrook had begun to comprehend and embrace Houston’s analytics-based approach, cutting out an excess of 3-point attempts in favor of more of the attacks that have long wreaked havoc on opposing defenses.

With Covington standing in the corner instead of Capela roaming to the basket, the potential for Russ and his newfound approach was astronomical, and he showed why at Staples.

In shooting 17-of-28 from the field, Westbrook helped take down the Lakers with 41 points along with eight rebounds and five assists.

24 of those points came in the paint along with a game-high 16 uncontested field goals, the result of a pick-your-poison proposal LA failed to halt in a double-digit defeat.

Never before had the former MVP played with the type of snipers in Houston who further opened the driving lanes he so mercilessly attacked, and that was before the trade.

He dominated one of the league’s top defenses on their home court, using the game to give hope to the supporters of micro-ball while turning the heads of the skeptics who may have thought otherwise.