Pacers Unable To Steal OKC, Westbrook’s Thunder
The surging Indiana Pacers were unable to hold off Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night, losing by a score of 105-92, making the race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference much more difficult.
The Thunder were without superstar Kevin Durant, but Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka wouldn’t let that become a problem, as they both combined for 48 points.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook had the more-impressive night, logging his third triple-double of the season, scoring 20 points, while also grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing 10 assists.
It might be worth noting that Westbrook has scored at least 20 points and had 10 assists in each of OKC’s last three games, which have all resulted in wins. Safe to say that this team is doing just fine without the NBA’s reigning MVP.
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Leading up to the game, Pacers guard Rodney Stuckey had hoped to keep the momentum going after scoring 30 points in his last two games.
However, OKC’s staff made it clear that they wanted to contain Stuckey, holding him to five total points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field in 28 minutes of playing time.
For Indiana, the playoff race looks that it will be a dog-fight all the way up into that last week of regular-season action come April. With a Pacers loss and a Pistons loss tonight, Indiana remains one game behind the Brooklyn Nets for the eight spot in the Eastern Conference.
A loss is never acceptable, but there’s nothing you can do to contain a recently hot Russell Westbrook, who has been playing out of his mind as of recent. One simply can not make negative implications on this Pacers team right now, especially with how good they have played in the month of February so far.
And to think the possibility of Paul George’s return could become a reality a few weeks from now could be enough to push the Pacers into the playoffs, and maybe even make a run into May.
The Pacers look to end the month of February off on a strong note Friday night when they’ll be taking on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at home, in what should be a great matchup.