BOSTON – Russell Westbrook and James Harden are two of the NBA’s most explosive scorers, finishing among the top-5 or so scorers look like child’s play.
But you wouldn’t have known that going by how each performed against a Boston Celtics defense that seems to be getting stronger as they move along this season.
Players are quick to credit the defensive skills of the team and not just one or two players, as being the reason behind such stellar play defensively.
In Boston’s 113-96 win over the Thunder, Russell Westbrook had a game-high 27 points but did so on 5-for-20 shooting which included him missing his last 10 shot attempts.
The Celtics were even tougher on Harden who tied his season-low with 16 points which came on 4-for-10 shooting.
Here we’ll take a look at the shots each player took against the Celtics, who was the primary defender and result of those shots.
----------
Here's how Westbrook fared on Sunday against the following players who were the primary defenders when he was shooting:
Harden's totals vs. each defender:
Marcus Smart - 2/3
Jae Crowder - 2/4
Evan Turner - 0/1
Jared Sullinger - 0/1
Jonas Jerebko - 0/1