OKLAHOMA CITY – Past the interview podium late Friday, through the curtains and into the Chesapeake Arena corridor, Russell Westbrook found an old Boston College guard who wanted to give him a hug and a handshake.

“He tells me, ‘I want to see the Rocket Man,’ ” Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan told Westbrook. “He calls you the Rocket Man.”

Westbrook laughed and reached his arm around Bill Donovan, the 75-year-old New Yorker who retired to Florida in the years his son built a college powerhouse in Gainesville. This had to feel like one of those March nights across two decades with the Gators, when Donovan had survived and kept going. Once again, Westbrook kept these Thunder alive, delivering 32 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in a 115-113 Game 3 victory over the Houston Rockets.

The Thunder trail 2-1 and return for Game 4 on Sunday with a chance to extend this best-of-seven series. Around these Thunder, everyone stopped and breathed out in the final seconds, watching James Harden’s 3-pointer bounce off the rim. Harden had 44 points, but Westbrook controlled Friday night with precision and poise with the season on the line.

Westbrook is believed to have the vote to become the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, with Harden running a close second place.

Russell Westbrook willed the Thunder to a Game 3 victory. (AP) More

If he had gone too far to get his 51 points in a Game 2 loss, Westbrook was far more measured on Friday night, passing on 3-pointers to drive the ball, passing to teammates and trusting the season within the hands of Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott.

When someone asked Westbrook about the performance of his “supporting cast,” he quickly corrected the questioner.

“I don’t have a cast,” Westbrook said. “We are one team.”

On his way to a historic season, on his way to keeping the Thunder relevant in a post-Kevin Durant era, Westbrook has embodied the MVP. In every way, he’s bailed out the franchise. He’s never minimized his teammates, never griped about the limitations that surround him. When you’re with Westbrook, he’s with you. That’s why Durant is dead to him.

“He’s a man’s man,” Donovan told The Vertical about Westbrook on Friday night. “He’s never passive-aggressive. He’s never trying to give some underlying message.”

Donovan watched Westbrook with Domantas Sabonis, how the rookie forward started to struggle with his shot, how Westbrook worked to find him open spaces in the pick-and-roll. Finally, Westbrook told Sabonis, “Meet me on the floor at 8:30 tomorrow.”

Donovan walked into the practice facility, and there was Westbrook on the floor with Sabonis, coaching and teaching him. “There’s Russell, throwing the ball to him, showing him how to roll, and what areas to get into,” Donovan told The Vertical. “Between the lines, people can look and judge that. I get that. But what he’s done outside the lines has been incredible, just remarkable. He says, ‘I’ve got to play better. We’ve got to play better.’ But he never, ever points fingers anywhere else.”

Donovan coached like an NBA pro on Friday night. Throughout the Thunder’s run in Oklahoma City, credit has gone to the general manager and the star players, but seldom the coach. Donovan is smart, self-aware and on Gregg Popovich’s level in one aspect: his ability to build and maintain relationships.

Donovan is thriving in the NBA because he’s understood better than most college coaches who made the leap to the league: It is about the players, not you. Donovan has never spent a moment trying to take credit for Westbrook’s historic season, never made it about himself.

It isn’t easy to gain Westbrook’s trust, but Donovan’s done it, in part because he hasn’t been afraid to coach Westbrook, and never wants to steal his spotlight.

This season could’ve effectively ended for Oklahoma City on Friday night, but Westbrook and these Thunder refused to let it die. Durant walked out of here for good in late June, and soon it was this partnership holding the franchise together: Westbrook and Donovan.