A week ago, Russell Westbrook shot 10-of-31 in a critical playoff game. By the way some told it, he pushed Kevin Durant right out the door, perhaps even into San Antonio's welcoming arms. Demands that Westbrook moderate his style poured in from every angle, and seeming justification for those calls arrived in Game 4 after Durant took over to the tune of 41 points. Perhaps Russell Westbrook had finally seen the light that this is not a team with two alphas, but with one superior star.
In Game 5, Westbrook took 27 attempts as the Thunder won in San Antonio to take full control of the series. He took another 21 shots in the Thunder's clinching Game 6 victory, never moderating his attacks or his style. Westbrook didn't prove his doubters right. He proved that his doubters still don't understand him.
Congregants in the Church of Russ have been telling you for years to let Westbrook be Westbrook. Listen to us. As has always been the case, Durant is a silky shooter and slithering wing who plays like a big man in that he's heavily effective when being set up by a playmaker. KD can absolutely thrive taking opponents off the dribble, but a huge amount of his makes are assisted, a moderate rarity for high scorers.
Per Basketball-Reference, more than half of Durant's two-pointers and nearly two-thirds of his threes were assisted this season. Other top scorers rely more on themselves. Only about a third of Stephen Curry's twos and just more than half of his threes are assisted. LeBron James has similar numbers on twos and a figure close to 60 percent on threes. Less than 20 percent of James Harden's twos and about half of his threes are assisted. Among the top five scorers in the league, only DeMarcus Cousins -- 55 percent of his twos and every single one of his made threes were assisted -- functions like Durant in terms of using a teammate's playmaking.
This is what has always been incredibly frustrating about Westbrook criticism: Durant is a prodigious scorer regardless of how many shots Russell takes. Durant has four scoring titles, all earned with Westbrook as his starting point guard. Excluding injury-plagued 2014-15, Durant has finished in the top three in points per game in every season since 2009-10. He is No. 1 in per-game scoring among active players and No. 3 all-time, having played with Westbrook for all but his rookie season. He's finished in the top 10 in usage rate in every season but one since 2009-10, and in fact has a top-10 usage rate all-time.
In light of that, and considering the high rate of assists Westbrook delivers to his teammate, it's irrational to argue that Durant doesn't get the ball enough. If Westbrook shot less or didn't initiate the offense as frequently, would Durant get many more shots? Would he get a single extra good shot? It's less likely than you might believe.
If there's someone suffering from Westbrook's shot volume, it's Serge Ibaka (whose offensive prowess has diminished greatly in recent years), Andre Roberson (who should never ever shoot, his rare Game 6 hot streak notwithstanding) or Steven Adams, whose scoring game is limited to pick-and-roll finishes -- something that destroyed the Spurs repeatedly in Games 4 and 5 -- and garbage buckets around the rim.
The pick-and-pop game between Westbrook and Ibaka has essentially died. Other than that, there's not a huge claim for more shots for any non-KD and Westbrook starters. Bench scorers Dion Waiters and Enes Kanter should be creating their own shots only in specific circumstances (Waiters in chaos when the defense isn't set and Kanter in the post against weaker or smaller defenders).
Westbrook is not a great shooter. Hell, he's not a good shooter. Yet teams -- even disciplined, smart, excellent defensive teams -- still guard him out there on the perimeter. Taking those lower-percentage shots has the function of opening up lanes, where the mere specter of a driving Westbrook collapses the entire resistance and lets the Thunder get clean looks, either at the rim or out on the wings.
He's reckless at times, but in being such, Westbrook creates a certain chaos that makes Oklahoma City difficult and perhaps impossible to defend. San Antonio had the best defense in the NBA this season, allowing just 96 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. OKC dropped 106 per 100 possessions on them in this series.
You can't take away Westbrook's faults without completely unraveling what makes the Thunder offense great. So, why would you want to? Those of us who have been imploring the Thunder and the world to let Westbrook be Westbrook for years could feel some sense of vindication after the turn this series took in Games 5 and 6.
But there's no need for it. With every passing day, Westbrook always justifies our faith in his powers to sew chaos and success every night out. This latest coup isn't worth boasts. It was all too obvious to us in the flock.
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