After departure of Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder show a heavy reliance on their sole star player Russel Westbrook. This is clearly seen in the opening game against the Philadelphia 76ers which will cause them trouble in the long run.
Oklahoma City Thunder won their first regular season game against the Sixers 103-97 on Wednesday Oct. 26 in their Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia. Westbrook made a double-double, scoring 32 points and 19 assists along with 2 rebounds.
His performance upset the fans of the home team, and one of the fans over-reacted, flipping off Westbrook with his middle finger in the first quarter, as reported by Bleacher Report. The fan was escorted out the stadium from his courtside seat.
Westbrook impressive performance showed that the Thunder have a dangerously heavy dependence on him. According to Washington Post that would be very bad for the team. Especially, considering the nature of Westbrook style that tend to hold the ball to create room for himself to make a shot, rather than passing the ball for his teammate.
Based on the NBA player data, during his last season’s performance, Westbrook ranked number two for the most offensive possessions with 22.1 percent, below the Rockets’ James Harden with 25.6 percent. However, his shooting effectiveness is considered low for player with high ball possession. Although he made 8.2 pullup shots per game, but he only made 42.3 field goald percentage and ranked 23rd in the NBA among 41 players who average more than 5 pullup shots per game.
As a point guard, Westbrook is the ballhandler during the pick-and-roll situation. In last season, he is more effective in passing the ball than create the offense for himself, due to the presence Durant who is a prolific scorer. After Durant’s departure, Westbrook seems to be more keen to create a play for himself as shown in his performance against the Sixers last Wednesday.
Oklahoma City Thunder will play their second regular season game hosting Phoenix Suns in Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma this Friday, Oct. 28.
Watch the Westbrook’s impressive performance in the opening game of 2016-17 regular season against Philadelphia 76ers with 32 points 19 assists 2 rebounds in the highlight below;