In game 3, James Harden put up a more-than-solid line of 30 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
Kevin Durant had 41 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, one block and one game-sealing three. And that pretty well sums it up, but lets start at the beginning.
With Russell Westbrook out for the Thunder and Jeremy Lin playing through a chest contusion, OKC raced out to a 20+ point lead in the first quarter. The Rockets’ ice cold shooting continued from game 2, and OKC was red hot from behind the line. On the first possession of the second half, Durant nailed one to cap off a streak of 6 straight made triples for the Thunder.
Durant’s 27 point first half was perhaps the best individual performance in the playoffs so far, but one that also added to his “not nice” resume. at about 9:19 in the quarter, Lin went to call a timeout. Durant went hard for the strip after the whistle, whacking Lin’s bruised chest in the process. It looked like thinly veiled retaliation for Westbrook’s injury, directed at a player who had nothing to do with the situation.
At one point in the second quarter, the Rockets were 1-12 from three, until Francisco Garcia finally broke the seal, breathing some life into Houston’s offense and the crowd.
The third quarter was where things started to turn around, with the tandem of Garcia and Parsons holding Durant to just 2 points in the quarter, and Houston’s drive-and-kick game finding some rhythm, and with 8:20 to go in the fourth, Delfino hit a three to bring Houston within two–a miracle considering the 26-point deficit early in the second quarter.
But then the Thunder began doing what they have done all series: answering.
Derek Fisher answered Delfino with a three.
At 7:13, Delfino hit again to make it 87-86 OKC. Durant answered.
Next play, Harden goes to the line and hits two.
Two possessions later, Durant goes to the line and gets both points back. And so it went all the way down to the final minute when Garcia hit a massive three to put Houston up two with 45 seconds to go. Durant answered. Garcia flubbed away Houston’s last chance by needlessly fouling Derek Fisher with 8 seconds on the shot clock for OKC but 12 seconds left in the game. Fittingly, the game ended on a missed desperation three from Delfino, well guarded by Ibaka.
Jalen Rose stated at halftime that the Thunder just want this series to be over. After seeing Jeremy Lin icing his chest, James Harden being peeled off the floor after contact and the whole team wondering who the long term “core” of the squad will be outside of Harden and Parsons, I can’t shake the feeling that the Rockets now want the same thing.
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