Houston Rockets superstar point guard Russell Westbrook won't play in Game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Rockets are up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. Westbrook is making progress in his recovery from a quad injury, but he's still not ready to play in a postseason game.
Russell Westbrook is out for Game 3.
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) August 21, 2020
The Rockets are being smart with Russell Westbrook since he's so explosive and the team needs his body to be close to 100 percent for the stretch run of the 2020 playoffs. If Houston can win the Thunder series without Westbrook, that would be huge so that the former MVP can get more rest.
Assuming the Rockets take care of business against the Thunder, they will face the Los Angeles Lakers or Portland Trail Blazers in the second round of the postseason. Houston is going to need Westbrook to play in that series, as both the Lakers and Blazers boast a high-powered offenses led by superstars.
Westbrook averaged 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game during the 2019-20 regular season in 57 starts. He shot 47.2 percent from the field and 76.3 percent from the free-throw line, though he only registered a measly 25.8 percent shooting clip from beyond the arc.
Westbrook played in only four seeding games at Disney World. He put up 24.3 points, 6.3 boards and 7.8 assists in 36.2 minutes per game. While Rockets fans are upset they won't get to see Russ play in Game 3, they are surely mindful of the fact that Houston is just being cautious with its superstar guard.
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