Craig Mitchelldyer-USA Today Sports
On Friday morning, some devastating news emerged from the Oklahoma City Thunder, as starting point guard Russell Westbrook will be sidelined for an undetermined amount of time after tearing his meniscus in his right knee.
The injury to Westbrook is simply devastating for the Thunder, making their road to a potential NBA Championship that much more difficult. Kevin Durant will likely get more shot attempts, but his importance and the pressure on him to produce even more so will come to light when the Thunder hit the court on Saturday night in Houston.
Oklahoma City leads the Houston Rockets two games to none to begin the series, but by default the momentum in this series has shifted in the opposite direction. Sure, Houston still trails by two games in this series and the Thunder can still advance even without Westbrook, but there’s no denying the fact that Oklahoma City will be taking a hit moving forward.
However, alongside the injury to Westbrook has come instant scrutiny into how his injury happened. Well, it occurred when Rockets’ guard Patrick Beverley reached in on Westbrook as he was trying to call a timeout along the sideline. An awkward bump caused Westbrook to wince and limp around, slapping the scorer’s table in frustration.
However, for those that believe Beverley’s move was dirty — think twice. Beverley has been an absolute pest on Westbrook in the first two games of this series and despite his ability to still average 24.0 points through the first two games, he has had to work for it. Beverley attempted to reach in and steal the ball before the referee granted the timeout, simply because you need position to be able to call it. So, Beverley was attempting to make a heads up play all while being the pest that he has been on Westbrook defensively.
It’s unfortunate that Westbrook suffered the injury because of it, but it certainly is not dirty. Beverley has been playing hard and producing for the Rockets this series and that’s more than Houston fans can say about starting point guard Jeremy Lin.
This series has been intense to start, but the Thunder have control. We are about to find out if the Westbrook injury turns the tides on this series as the location changes heading into the weekend.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
