Thunder possession. Westbrook quickly pushed into the frontcourt. Facing the Rockets' prepared formation, he did not blindly charge in again. Instead, he called for Chen Xi's Pick-and-Roll, took one dribble to break through, blew past the switching Gordon, and tore open the Rockets' defense.
Ariza immediately collapsed from the side to help. Westbrook did not force the issue, whipping the ball out with one hand to Butler, who had found a small opening and shot as soon as he caught it.
The three-pointer was good. 5–5.
The Rockets attacked again. Harden used Capela's high Pick-and-Roll to drive. After setting the screen, Capela immediately rolled to the basket, shaking off Little Sabonis. Two strides later, he soared into the air. The ball arrived as he did, and he hammered home the alley-oop.
"Both teams have started with extremely successful offense, perfectly using the threat that players ranked in the top two of the MVP race should possess. Their ability to create offense has been outstanding!"
Before the commentator had even finished speaking, the Thunder pushed in transition again.
Westbrook drove quickly into enemy territory. Facing a double-team, he jumped and passed backward in midair. Chen Xi had just arrived at the forty-five-degree angle, caught the ball, and fired.
Chen thought to himself that an open three was basically free points.
Great games often grabbed people's attention right from the start.
The Thunder and Rockets had converted all of their first three possessions. It was obviously not because their defenses were poor. The Rockets had a Defensive Efficiency of 106.4, while the Thunder were at 105.1, both among the League's best. The Thunder's Defensive Efficiency was even closing in on the Golden State Warriors' 104.0, good for second in the League. The 2017 Warriors were seriously absurd, leading the entire League across