Wondrous Westbrook works his magic
ORLANDO, Florida — With as prolific a scorer as Russell Westbrook is, the Oklahoma City Thunder never feel like any deficit is too much to overcome.
OKC stormed back from a double-digit deficit behind another explosive performance by Westbrook to upend Orlando Magic 114-106 in overtime on Wednesday night.
Westbrook scored 36 of his 57 points after halftime and had 13 rebounds and 11 assists for his 38th triple-double of the season to help the Thunder clinch a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
On Monday night, Westbrook had a 13-point outburst in the final three minutes to lead the Thunder to a comeback win over Dallas.
“I always say this about him, he never believes he is out of it or we’re out of it,” said Thunder coach Billy Donovan, whose team improved to 43-31.
“He plays with an incredible competitive spirit. He plays with an unbelievable passion. He always has a huge heart, he’s always a huge competitor and he finds ways to make things happen.
“Overall, it’s incredible what he is doing.”
Westbrook, just as he was two nights earlier, was the catalyst late in the fourth quarter and into the overtime period as he took every big shot and Orlando’s defense had no answer.
He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter, which included the 3-pointer with 7.1 seconds remaining in regulation that sent the game into overtime with his 50th point of the night.
He scored seven of his team’s 12 points in overtime as OKC pulled away from the Magic.
“I’m very thankful to the man above for allowing me to play the game I love,” Westbrook, who finished one point shy of tying his career high. “And my teammates make it easy for me and give me a lot of opportunities to make plays like this.”
Westbrook’s performance was so impressive and dominating that chants of “MVP! MVP! MVP!” shook Amway Center late in the fourth.
“Words really can’t describe it,” OKC guard Victor Oladipo said of Westbrook’s performance this season. “It’s just an honor to play alongside him. It’s amazing to watch him.”
Enes Kanter added 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for the Thunder, and Oladipo had 13 points while returning to Orlando for the first time since being traded by the Magic last June.
Evan Fournier finished with 24 points and Terrence Ross added 23 for the Magic, who were eliminated from the playoffs before tipoff.
“This is really a tough one,” said Magic center Nikola Vucevic, who missed some clutch free throws at the end of regulation and in overtime.
“We had so many opportunities to close it out and didn’t. We went to me a lot and I didn’t deliver. I missed a couple of go-to shots in the fourth and some free throws.”
Tip-ins
OKC entered Wednesday night in sixth place in the Western Conference standings, but the Thunder are just 2 1/2 games out of the coveted fourth-place spot. The top four teams are guaranteed home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs ... Through the first 73 games of the season, Westbrook averaged 31.4 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.4 assists, which is second in NBA history to Oscar Robertson through the first 70 games of a season.