The Los Angeles Clippers defended James Harden fairly well in Thursday night's matchup against the Rockets, limiting the league's leading scorer to 28 points. However, Russell Westbrook went off for 40 points and 10 rebounds as Houston rallied for a 122-117 victory.
LA had a set defensive plan for Harden, but they seemed to slack a bit on Westbrook. The former UCLA standout was asked about this fact during his postgame presser:
“Did they lose sight of the fact that you're a prolific scorer too?” a reporter asked Westbrook following Thursday night's game.
“Let em' go ahead,” Westbrook replied, shaking his head. “That's their problem.”
Russell Westbrook last night on people forgetting how good of a scorer he is after dropping 40- “Let them. That’s their problem.”#Rockets pic.twitter.com/qHHl20uAZE
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) December 20, 2019
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers admitted that his team was focused on Harden, which led to a lack of discipline in guarding Westbrook:
“When you give so much attention to (James) Harden you forget the other MVP that is on their team,” Rivers said during his postgame media availability, via ESPN. “You have to respect him and play him the right way. We lost our discipline a lot on him tonight, especially in transition. Once he gets in front of you, you're not going to catch him, and that happened a lot during the second half.”
Westbrook came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 points in the frame. He has now scored 40 or more points in 44 games. According to ESPN, he is the first Rocket other than Harden to have a 40-point game since Kevin Martin scored 45 against Portland on Jan. 5, 2011.
The Rockets improved to 19-9 with Thursday's win. They'll look to keep their momentum rolling on Saturday night, when they face off against the Phoenix Suns.
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