Down two points to the Oklahoma City Thunder with the opportunity to tie the game or take the lead with 12.9 seconds left, Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook drove coast-to-coast before dishing an uncatchable pass to Robert Covington that went out-of-bounds with 7.6 seconds remaining.
The turnover, Westbrook’s seventh of the night and one of 22 Houston had as a team, basically ended the game for the Rockets as OKC forward Danilo Gallinari added to the Thunder lead with a pair of free throws following the miscue to ice the 104-100 victory for his team.
With the win, the Thunder forced a Game 7 with Houston that will be played on Wednesday night. Should they win, it will be sweet revenge for former Rocket Chris Paul, who scored 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter on Monday night. Prior to this season, Paul and Westbrook were traded for one another, and there is certainly some bad blood between the former and the Rockets organization.
Paul, who made two free throws with 13.1 seconds left to give the Thunder their two-point lead prior to Westbrook’s brutal turnover, shot 10-of-20 on the night, adding seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. “We’re not ready to go yet,” he said after the win.
Following the loss, Westbrook said Houston’s woes were self-inflicted and also blamed himself for turning over the ball too many times.
In Monday’s other game, Jimmy Butler went off for a playoff career-high 40 points as the fifth-seeded Heat beat the top-seeded Bucks 115-104 to take a 1-0 series lead in their second-round matchup.
Later today, the Celtics (1-0) will take on the Raptors in Game 2 of their series and the Jazz (3-3) will take on the Nuggets in the first Game 7 of the NBA’s bubble.
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