Parker outdoes Westbrook

OKLAHOMA CITY — With less than a minute to go and the Thunder trailing by six, Russell Westbrook used his rocket boosters to hammer home a put-back dunk. After a defensive stand, he flew back up the court and went full speed as only he can into the teeth of the defense, drawing contact — no, forcing contact — and getting to the line, where he calmly sank both. Just like that, San Antonio’s lead was two. A human wrecking ball, that Westbrook, turning the game on its head in the blink of an eye. It was everything that makes him so incredible.

That this sequence came on the tail end of a performance that had, in large part, cost Oklahoma City any chance of defeating the Spurs in Game 3, well, there is no better way to capture the unpredictable force of nature that defines perhaps the most divisive superstar in today’s NBA.

The best of Russell Westbrook will single-handedly win a game for you.

But the worst of him will also go a long way toward costing you one.

Nobody is here to pin this entire 100-96 OKC loss — which gave San Antonio a 2-1 lead in the series — on Westbrook, who, after all, finished the game with 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. But look a little closer, and that 10-for-31 shooting line refuses to be ignored. That’s more missed shots for Westbrook than Durant even attempted. This is to say nothing of his five turnovers and several missed defensive assignments.

You want to believe you can live with it all — the questionable shot selection, the turnovers, the intensity that teeters over the edge. And on most nights, against most teams, you can. But this wasn’t most nights. And the Spurs certainly aren’t most teams. The Thunder needed the best of Russell Westbrook on Friday, and instead, if they didn’t get the worst, they got close to it. Over the next few days the same old narratives will abound: Can you win at the highest level with Westbrook playing the way he does? …

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