The Good, The Bad, and Russell Westbrook

With the top two stars in the game putting on a show, the third best player's ugly performance decided the game.

Dirk Nowitzki had a game for the ages. 48 points, 80% shooting, 24 FT's without a miss. The unheralded European has really shown this postseason why he just might be the most unguardable player in the sport.

With all the attention going to Dirk, Kevin Durant had one of the quietest 40 point games I've ever seen. He was quite efficient himself, scoring on 56% from the field and 95% from the line. Durant's persistence to keep his team in the game is a good sign for OKC fans.

Yet it won't mean much if Russell Westbrook does not step up his game. Westbrook managed 20 points, but shot 20% from the field and managed only 3 assists. Far removed from the 14 he had in Game 7 against Memphis.

Credit the Dallas defense. The Mavericks spent a lot of time in the zone in an effort to keep Westbrook from getting easy looks off drives.Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood played outstanding defense at the rim, and the rotations in the zone were phenomenal.

With that being said, Westbrook needs to play a lot better if he is going to help his team advance to the Finals. Although Westbrook only took 15 shots, and only a few were questionable looks, he still needs to get his teammates involved. James Harden is a good shooter and playmaker, and should have taken more than 9 shots in 36 minutes against a zone. Durant should have started getting the ball as much as Nowitzki in the fourth quarter. Westbrook needs to get the ball to the right teammate, and earlier in the shot clock. He is doing too much dribbling around the perimeter; either get into the lane or give the ball up.

Westbrook should also take a lesson from Derrick Rose. Prior to this season, Rose was always content to shoot floaters and fadeaways in the lane. This year, he is taking that extra dribble, absorbing contact, and drawing more fouls.

Westbrook does this sometimes. His 18 FT's are evidence that he does get to the line. But if you watched the game, you could tell that he could get to the line even more if he took one extra dribble and got more contact. The Mavericks can't match his speed, and if he learns how to draw more contact, he'll be going to the line even more.

The Thunder need to come up with a better strategy of defending Dirk, because isolation coverage is definitely not working. Maybe the best way would be to front him some possessions and have a quick rotation inside. Mark Jackson's analysis seemed right on the money; OKC has to let Jason Kidd, DeShawn Stevenson, or J.J. Barea beat them with jump shots. But it won't matter much if Westbrook doesn't play better. He must play like the third best player in the series, or Dallas will be heading to the Finals.