Kemba Walker hit one big shot after another for the Hornets and finished with a team-high 29 points while Frank Kaminsky added 18 points off the bench.
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Westbrook is averaging 31.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game this season. It’s exactly why Charlotte scored 35 points off turnovers. The Pacers have lost four straight and six of their last seven. Nine different Hornets scored in the first half.
But Leonard staked his claim to featuring in that conversation – and had plenty of help with 17 points from Pau Gasol and 14 from LaMarcus Aldridge. Tony Parker scored 21 points for the Spurs. He has an Atlasian 62.3% usage rate and their team has a 29.0% assist percentage in clutch scenarios. The Hornets actually held the lead from the 2:20 mark in the first quarter until the final buzzer.
It’s not like the youngster will need many shots at the bucket to rack up the points either, having shot over 50 percent from the field since the start of March.
AccuScore simulated OKC’s final six games in two sets of simulations: with Westbrook and without Westbrook. A pair of free throws from Adams put the Thunder up 69-48 halfway through the quarter, and it seemed like the lead was becoming insurmountable.
Despite having a plethora of big-men, the Thunder allow 47.7 points in the paint per game, ranking 28th in the National Basketball Association, just ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and Rockets.
Milwaukee will go into the game looking to win the series for the first time since the 2008/09 campaign, having beaten Oklahoma City back in January 98-94.
The loss virtually extinguished the Pelicans’ playoff hopes. They trail the Utah Jazz (47-30) by 3.5 games in the Northwest Division standings.
For example, with Westbrook, OKC is projected to squeeze by the Milwaukee Bucks on 4/4 with a two-point victory; with Westbrook out, that projected win percentage drops about six points and simulates to an approximate tie. Leonard came up with a three-point play to close out the contest. With only 19 three-point attempts on the night, Milwaukee did most of its damage inside, ending with 54 points in the paint. G Alex Abrines left the game in the second quarter with a sprained left knee and did not return.
Mathematically, Charlotte could still finish as high as sixth in the East.
Plus, remember this kid – after Antetokounmpo blocked Westbrook – from the teams’ January 2 game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center? But that’s when just about everyone – including Westbrook, who finished with 40 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, his sixth consecutive triple-double – made a decision to push scoring to the side. Robertson had 41 triple-doubles in the 1961-1962 season with the Cincinnati Royals. It was especially evident in the third quarter, when he scored 13 of OKC’s 16 total points.
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