Westbrook has been his own Thunderstorm
Guard is undisputed leader in Oklahoma City after Durant’s departure for Golden State
OKLAHOMA CITY— DeMar DeRozan knows a thing or two about playing basketball with a chip on his shoulder and how to use perceived slights to prove critics wrong.
But the often-miffed Toronto Raptors all-star looks at Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder and thinks, whoa, that guy’s really ticked.
“He plays with a country on his shoulders,” DeRozan said Wednesday morning. “You see it every single night how he brings it, the intensity, everything on his face. It’s incredible.”
Westbrook, who does seem chronically angry and attacks basketball with a verve seldom seen, has become something of a poster boy for the incredibly-talented-but-always-put-out athlete.
“He’s an all-star, he’s an all-pro, the kid’s going to be in the Hall of Fame before his career’s over with, so he’s got a lot of pride,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said before the Raptors faced the Thunder on Wednesday night. “He loses his running mate (Kevin Durant) so he wants to prove he can go and he can play. He’s good enough to win the game by himself (and he shows) how powerful, how strong, how dynamic he is as a player.”
Westbrook watched Durant flee the Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in the summer and took umbrage to suggestions he couldn’t handle being a oneman show or that Oklahoma City was too small for his king-sized personality.
“Honestly, I stay even-keel throughout the good stuff, the bad stuff, because I always pay attention to my family and people that’s important to me, people I stand by,” Westbrook told Yahoo’s The Vertical before the season started. “I like to have fun and enjoy the game and I just go out and play. Criticism for me goes in one ear and out the other.”
Westbrook signed a contract extension in the summer — three years and about $85 million — re-upping as the undisputed leader of the Thunder, and he has begun the season playing that way.
He entered Wednesday averaging 30.4 points, 9.9 assists and 8.4 rebounds a game, dominating with his typically intense, no-holds-barred style.
He had a huge game against the Phoenix Suns last month, with 51 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, the first 50-point triple-double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it 40 years ago. And he had 36 points against Toronto on Wednesday, on a night when he struggled from the floor (9-for-26) but made up for it by going 15-for-18 from the line.
“He’s an aggressive, attacking, fiery, really, really competitive point guard, and I love everything about that, about him,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said this week. “So it’s not about changing him. It’s just about him learning and figuring and studying and seeing different ways that he can impact his teammates, and I think he’s trying to do that.”
That is another major point to Westbrook’s torrid start. He’s great, no question, but the Thunder took a 6-1 record into Wednesday’s game — the best start to a season in franchise history — because the likes of Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo have meshed well with Westbrook and he’s let them. Westbrook dominates, the other players do their jobs.
“They stepped up and played their roles,” Casey said. “They’ve embraced it and they enjoy it. That chemistry is what you have to have to win in this league. You can’t have one guy wanting . . . to take Durant’s place, it’s not going to happen. That’s the thing with team chemistry that you look to have for your team.”
But it’s also nice to look to a guy like Westbrook and his alpha male personality.
“He plays hard every night, he’s aggressive and he’s an MVP-calibre player and he’s always been that way,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said.
“I think he’s becoming more of a leader, he understands that everything is going through him and he’s taking advantage of it and loving the opportunity. He’s just putting it all out there every night.”
OKLAHOMA CITY— The shots that hadn’t been going in did, and the ball zipped side to side as all the things that had been troubling the Toronto Raptors through the infancy of the NBA season disappeared, if only for one night.
DeMar DeRozan exploded for 37 points, Kyle Lowry made five threepointers and Lucas Nogueira infused the team with some infectious energy as the Raptors upset the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-102 here Wednesday night. DeRozan and Lowry keyed an impressive finish by the Raptors, who looked to be hanging on after a 14point lead had been shaved to five with about seven minutes left.
DeRozan re-entered the game and scored two important baskets and Lowry drilled a three-pointer to put the Raptors up 12 with about three minutes to go as Toronto restored order.
Russell Westbrook, who was only 3-for-12 from three-point range, led the Thunder with 36 points, 15 of them coming at the free throw line.
The Raptors got a boost of energy from Nogueira, who took over from starter Jakob Poeltl to begin the third quarter. Far more energetic than Poeltl, Nogueira had 10 points — six on dunks off lobs from either Lowry or DeRozan — while grabbing six rebounds.
Most important, his style of play fit well into a somewhat scrambled game that was played at a frenetic pace most of the night.
Once again without Jonas Valanciunas, who sat his second straight game with a wonky knee, and Jared Sullinger, who will be out for weeks still after foot surgery, the Raptors were further depleted when Terrence Ross was a late scratch.
Ross sprained the index finger on his right hand during practice Tuesday and couldn’t work through the injury Wednesday night. He took part in shootaround and did some work in the pre-game period but wasn’t comfortable enough to play.
Ross’s absence figured to cut even further into Toronto’s shooting depth but the Raptors showed signs of getting out of an early-season funk as a team.
As part of a 42-point second quarter that gave them a 62-55 halftime lead, Patrick Patterson and DeMarre Carroll each made two three-pointers and the Raptors made six of 10 shots from long distance.
The Raptors finished 11-for-25 from three-point range and dished out a season-high 25 assists. Lowry had 13, nine of them in the first half, and finished one rebound shy of a tripledouble.
Toronto showed better ball movement and better shot-making than at many points this year.
“I feel like we’re getting the shots that we’ve gotten before and made,” Lowry had said earlier in the day. “It’s still early, man . . . When everyone starts to get in a better rhythm, everybody will be better.”