For the first time in the 2020 NBA playoffs, All-Star guard Russell Westbrook will play for the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Due to a right quad injury, Westbrook missed four of Houston’s final five regular-season games, as well as the first four meetings of their first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But after 17 days of rest and rehabilitation following his last game action on Aug. 11, Westbrook is set to play in Saturday’s Game 5. According to a team source cited by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Adrian Wojnarowski, Westbrook “looked as explosive as ever” during an intrasquad Rockets scrimmage on Thursday afternoon.
To commemorate the occasion, which will serve as Westbrook’s playoff debut with the Rockets, the team released a video Saturday showing behind-the-scenes footage of his rehab in recent weeks.
Now 31 years old, Westbrook has averaged 27.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists in 35.9 minutes per game during a brilliant debut season in Houston. A nine-time NBA All-Star and the 2017 MVP, Westbrook shot a career-high 47.2% in the regular season with the Rockets — whose small-ball approach opened up more opportunities to attack the rim. He is the team’s No. 2 scorer, trailing only MVP finalist James Harden.
Game 5 between the Rockets and Thunder tips off at 5:30 p.m. Central, with a national broadcast shown on TNT and a regional version (with Houston announcers) on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. Historically, in best-of-seven NBA playoff series that are tied at two games apiece — as this one is — the Game 5 winner takes the series more than 80% of the time.
WESTBROOK IS BACK FOR GAME 5! pic.twitter.com/FdDzVVbgd1
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) August 29, 2020
