Houston Rockets: Russell Westbrook’s 5 best plays of 2019-20
By Saheel Momin
Looking back at Russell Westbrook’s 5 best plays from 2019-20
Led by the duo of Russell Westbrook and James Harden, the Houston Rockets have one of the most talented teams in the NBA.
The pair delivered exhilarating plays all season long and had Houston fans thrilled throughout the season. Westbrook averaged 27.5 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in 53 games this season, which wasn’t his best, considering his past seasons with the Thunder.
The main reason why his stats are down this season is that the workload has decreased. The pairing of him and Harden is a reason why we didn’t see Westbrook supply his remarkable stats that we’re accustomed to.
Westbrook had an outstanding 2019-20 season in his first year with the Houston Rockets before the NBA was shut down due to the Coronavirus outbreak. He had big-time games where he threw down tomahawk slams and created clutch shots for the Rockets in 2019-20.
It was clear that the two superstars coincided very well because of the chemistry they had with each other. Before the NBA season was halted, Houston was sixth in the league in a stacked Western Conference, with a 40-24 record on the year.
Counting down Westbrook’s best plays of 2019-20:
No. 5 – Russell Westbrook blocks Trevor Ariza (January 29, 2020)
Westbrook denied the former Rocket Trevor Ariza at the rim and had something to say to the crowd. This is the kind of energy the Rockets need on a nightly basis because Houston struggles mightily on the defensive end.
No. 4 – Russell Westbrook finishes the dunk from James Harden (February 22, 2020)
This is a textbook alley-oop executed by Harden and Westbrook. Harden saw that he had an open lane and penetrated inside, which led to the slam by Westbrook. This is a perfect scenario that shows that the communication between the two stars was a factor on this play.
No. 3 – Rusell Westbrook dishes to Tyson Chandler to beat the buzzer (December 3, 2019)
At the end of the third quarter, the Rockets ran a great play to beat the buzzer. Gary Clark delivered a nice bounce pass to Russell Westbrook and then he hit Chandler for the easy slam to give the Rockets a big lead. The Rockets ended up losing that game by two in OT.
No. 2 – Russell Westbrook tomahawk jam vs. Wolves (March 10, 2020)
On this play, Russell Westbrook hustled his way down the court and threw down a ferocious slam on the Wolves. Not to mention, he also crossed up D’Angelo Russell in the process.
No. 1 Russell Westbrook put back dunk over Jaylen Brown (February 29, 2020)
Westbrook went over Jaylen Brown to add to his plethora of slams in 2019-20. This putback dunk was crucial because it gave the Rockets a six-point lead, late in the fourth. Westbrook finished with 41 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. The Rockets won 111-110 in OT.
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There’s growing hope that the 2019-20 NBA season will resume, and the target date that has been reported is July 31. Hopefully, that means we’ll get to see Russell Westbrook and the Rockets back in action.