The Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook, who has been sidelined since 11 August with a strained quad, was reportedly set to feature on Wednesday before the Milwaukee Bucks initiated what became a league-wide boycott – for Game 5 of their first-round series against the OKC Thunder.
Further reports claim Westbrook is looking “as explosive as ever,” after watching him participate in a 5-on-5 scrimmage on Thursday. Multiple reports also indicate that his track hasn’t changed and he will indeed play in Game 5 when the series continues as the postseason is set to resume on Saturday.
The Rockets indeed need this boost and would require Westbrook to hit the ground running after they suddenly find themselves in a 2-2 fight against a dangerous Thunder team despite racing out to a 2-0 series lead.
In Russell Westbrook’s absence, James Harden has received a lot of support from other players on the Rockets roaster. Eric Gordon is averaging just under 20 points per game for the series, mostly courtesy of attacking the basket with welcomed aggression. Jeff Green has made huge contributions as well, shooting 48 percent from deep. Danuel House, P.J. Tucker, Robert Covington and Ben McLemore have combined for 41 percent from deep (37-for-90).
Related: NBA Playoffs: Players have agreed to resume the playoffs after boycott
Houston might be capable of beating OKC without Westbrook, but that’s not looking certain right now, and with the Lakers their next likely opponent in the second round should they make it that far, a full arsenal will be required.
As the postseason started, the Rockets seemed the most intriguing team as everyone wanted to see how this full-time small-ball experiment would work in the playoffs. For all that to work, Westbrook has to be attacking the gaps and space created by the disproportionate attention paid to Harden.
But first things first: Westbrook has to get on the court and back into a rhythm as he hasn’t played in a game since 11 Aug.ust. And again, there isn’t a whole lot of time for that. Over 198 series through the 2017 playoffs, teams that won Game 5 in a 2-2 series went on to win the series over 82 percent of the time. That means that over the last two postseasons, teams that won Game 5 in a 2-2 series have won the series seven out of 10 times.
The Houston Rockets, ironically, is one of the three that was on the other end as they lost the 2018 Western Conference finals to the Warriors after taking a 3-2 series lead with a win in Game 5.
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