3 Ways the Houston Rockets can re-gain control of the series

3. Better play from Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook is one of the most explosive and electrifying players to ever grace the hardwood in the NBA. However, the Rockets haven’t gotten the contributions from the Westbrook they traded for during the offseason so far in this series.

In Games 1 and 2 Westbrook combined to shoot 14-for-39 from the field and 2-for-12 from beyond the arc. All in all, Westbrook scored 34 points and ripped down 22 rebounds in over 70 minutes of action.

Throughout the first two games Westbrook has shown flashes of what he’s capable of being, but he has yet to put a complete game together. He’s reverted back to his old way of bullying himself into the paint and taking tough, contested shots at the rim or running full speed down the court and shooting off balanced mid-range and three-point jumpers.

He’s also been visibly and incredibly loose with the basketball at different points during the series. Even though he’s still not completely 100 percent healthy from his quad injury, he has all the ability to perform better than he’s shown to this point.

The Rockets had numerous opportunities to win Game 2 despite Westbrook’s struggles and they managed to blow out the Lakers in Game 1 of the series with him playing a sub-par game also. So, the Rockets are knocking on the door of reaching all their potential they need to push forward in this series, they just need their other superstar to raise his game to the highest level.

Next: No. 2