Teams need to know who's taking the big shot with the game on the line (as the theory goes), and the Thunder simply don't.
But last night a funny thing happened: with the Spurs charging and the Thunder clinging to a two-point lead with 30 seconds left, OKC gave the ball to James Harden and had him go one-on-one to win the game.
For all the hoopla around the Westbrook-Durant narrative, it was Harden — the bearded guy — who stood at the top of the key, stared down a defender, and drained the dagger.
We've seen role players like Harden hit big shots in the playoffs before. But teams with two bona fide superstars rarely allow their third-best player to try and win the game single-handedly like that.
It shows two things:
1. OKC is an extremely confident team right now.
2. The Thunder don't buy in the Westbrook-Durant conflict that they're supposed to be embroiled in.
Here's the shot:"
'via Blog this'
