Hustle and muscle putting Westbrook in elite company
Russell Westbrook doesn’t make triple-doubles just in games anymore.
Now he’s got one for the entire season.
Westbrook raised his averages to 30.9 points, 11.3 assists and 10.3 rebounds through more than a month of play with his NBA-leading eighth triple-double on Monday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New York Knicks 112-103.
Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson is the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, so Westbrook was asked if his current pace is sustainable.
“Winning is sustainable,” he said. “That’s all I know, and my job is to make sure we go out and find the best way to win games. Right now we’ve won three straight, and that’s the most important part for me.”
Westbrook had his third straight triple-double and the 45 th of his career and nearly did it by halftime, finishing with 27 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists.
He had 14 points, 10 boards and nine assists at the break.
“He is going to put up numbers because of his ability and just how hard he plays and his gifts, but he’s doing a lot of other things that the stat sheet doesn’t measure,” said Thunder coach Billy Donovan.
“I know everybody is focused on that right now, and rightfully so. It’s historic what he’s doing. But he’s really a complete point guard all the way around.”
Enes Kanter added a season-high 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Steven Adams had 14 points and 10 boards as the Thunder outrebounded the Knicks 53-40.
“We got manhandled. That’s tough,” Knicks center Joakim Noah said.
“Russ definitely puts a lot of pressure on when he’s going downhill like that. At the end of the day it’s always tough knowing that we lost the game on the glass.”
Derrick Rose scored a season-best 30 points, but the Knicks had their six-game home winning streak snapped.
Kristaps Porzingis added 21 points for New York, while Carmelo Anthony had 18.
Westbrook fell just shy of his third straight 15-assist game, but had his highest rebound total of the season — and one off his career best — to keep the Thunder rolling after a recent three-game skid.
The Knicks led by 11 in the first quarter, but the Thunder began to grab control with Westbrook’s hustle and Kanter’s muscle, getting numerous baskets inside to turn the game around.
It happened so quickly that Westbrook nearly had the stat sheet stuffed before the break.
Joffrey Lauvergne missed a 3-pointer that would’ve given Westbrook a 10th assist with 32 seconds left in the half, but the point guard who was MVP of the All-Star Game two years ago had a shot at the halftime triple-double after grabbing his 10th rebound on the defensive end with a little more than 20 seconds left.
He brought the ball up and tried to create, but turned it over on a pass with about five seconds to go.
Strange schedule
OKC is in the midst of a fivegame stretch in which it won’t play consecutive games in the same time zone.
The Thunder came to New York for essentially a onegame road trip in between home games on Saturday and Wednesday.
tant to us. If we have to play without him, we’ll play without him.”
Mavs owner Mark Cuban said there was “every expectation” Nowitzki’s injury was “not serious.”
“It’s dramatically better ... he just felt it again, so there’s no reason to take a chance. We’re just being cautious,” Cuban said.
Nowitzki has played for the Mavericks ever since joining from DJK Wurzburg in 1998. He was the NBA Finals MVP during the team’s 2011 championship year and is a 13-time All-Star.
The Mavericks are currently languishing in the basement of the Western Conference with a dismal record of 3-13.
Knowing Noah
Noah hasn’t made a huge impact yet in his first season with the Knicks, but his college coach thinks he will.
Donovan, who coached Florida to back-to-back national championships when Noah played there, said the center has “incredible heart” and praised him as a team leader who cares only about winning.
“He’s going to put his work in, but he’s one of those guys in my opinion that’s just truly all about sacrifice and winning,” Donovan said. “So I think he’ ll bring that to the Knicks throughout the entire season.”
AFP