When the game dragged on until the final minute of the fourth quarter and the score difference still hovered around 10 points, D'Antoni finally accepted the reality of defeat. He subbed out Harden, who had already played 42 minutes, and conceded.
Rather than fight for a slim hope, it was better to focus on the upcoming game against the Spurs.
As for the Warriors, tsk, the road ahead was long! They could only win if Harden went nuclear.
The game ended with Harden shooting 13 of 22, 6 of 12 from three, and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line for 40 Points, 6 Rebounds, and 11 Assists. Regretfully, he became the empty-stats king of the day. The only teammates who could be said to have helped him were Gordon with 19 Points and Lou Will with 17.
The Thunder, meanwhile, had three players firing on all cylinders.
Westbrook posted 32 Points, 12 Rebounds, and 13 Assists, securing another triple-double.
Butler had 19 Points, 9 Rebounds, and 3 Assists.
Chen Xi went 10 of 19, 5 of 10 from three, and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line, putting up 29 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists.
The new Thunder's Big Three crushed the Rockets 130-121, solidifying their position. Their remaining schedule was relatively easy, and as long as they did not suffer consecutive upset losses, they were basically locked into third place in the Western Conference.
That was what they said, but in the very next back-to-back game, they were upset by the Mavericks. Chen Xi rested, Westbrook had an off night, and Matthews and Barea played as if they had been injected with chicken blood, catching fire and using sheer chaos to leave the Thunder completely rattled.
Fortunately, in the following games against the Magic, Spurs, Hornets, Bucks,