Westbrook had half of his assists by halftime to help the Thunder open a 42-34 lead. In the third quarter, Westbrook took over with his passing.
When the Grizzlies threatened to string together a similar second-half comeback to Game 6, cutting the lead to 48-44, Westbrook made all the right decisions. He found Ibaka for an 18-foot jumper. He ignited the crowd with an alley-oop to Durant for a dunk. He later found Harden and Durant on the wings for consecutive 3-pointers. Those feeds helped fuel the Thunder to a 17- 7 run to take a 65-51 with 1:28 left in the period.
The Grizzlies never got within single digits. The Thunder went on to lead by as many as 20.
Westbrook was so good distributing, he registered his 10th assist with 2:25 left in the third period. He was so dominant on the boards, he pulled down his 10th rebound with 3:27 left in the third quarter. He was so unselfish, he took only 12 shots and didn't complete his triple-double until sinking a 16-footer with 7:40 left in the game.
“I thought he was great,” said Nick Collison, who complemented Westbrook as the Thunder's defensive savior with his performance on Zach Randolph.
“He was trying to do everything he could to help us win.”
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