The Oklahoma City Thunder are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and entered the playoffs as the odds-on favorite to represent the conference in the NBA Finals. That may still be the case, but their road has suddenly gotten a lot tougher as they will be without point guard Russell Westbrook.
According to Sean Highkin of USA Today, Westbrook will miss the remainder of the playoffs after undergoing surgery to repair a torn lateral meniscus. Westbrook suffered the injury during a freak play involving Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverly in Game 2 of the first-round series between OKC and Houston.
The Thunder hold a 2-0 lead in the series, but the Rockets have new life and could get back into it with a Game 3 win. Here are three players who must step up for OKC in Westbrook's absence and lead the Thunder to victory in Game 3 and in the series as a whole.
Reggie Jackson
While the Thunder will probably take a by-committee approach in replacing Westbrook, point guard Reggie Jackson is likely to step into the starting lineup. Because of that, fans will expect him to step up and produce. Jackson took a bi ...
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Article written by Mike Chiari
Thunder vs Rockets: Players Who Must Step Up in Russell Westbrook’s Absence
April 27th, 2013 by Mike Chiari Leave a reply »
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