Russell Westbrook shouldered the blame after his crucial mistakes hampered the Houston Rockets from closing out their Western Conference first round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Westbrook committed two turnovers and airballed a jump shot in the final 1:30 minutes in the Rockets’ 100-104 loss, paving the way for the Thunder to force a do-or-die Game 7.

“That was just my fault, honestly. Last game, I had zero [turnovers]. Tonight, I had 7. Simple as that,” Westbrook said after the game.

Westbrook had a chance to put the Rockets up with the score knotted at 100 but he completely missed the rim from the top of the key.

Then with the Thunder leading 102-100, Westbrook threw the ball out of bounds with 7.6 ticks remaining and fouled Danilo Gallinari, who sank the win-sealing free throws.

It is worth noting, though, that Westbrook still might not have fully recovered from the quad injury that sidelined him in the first 4 games of the best-of-seven series.

Prior to being sidelined, the former MVP averaged 24.3 points, 7.8 assists, and 6.3 rebounds in 4 games in the NBA bubble.

In two games since Westbrook returned, those numbers dipped to 12.0 points, 5.0 rebounds. 5.0 assists as Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni limited his playing time to an average of 25.5 minutes.

But Westbrook said the Rockets are “fine” going into the knockout Game 7.

“It is our job to close games out, tonight we did not close it out. But we’re okay. Just get ready for the next one.” – Rappler.com