The year of the triple doubles
The man wi t h the “0” on his jersey is setting records onefourth into the NBA season. Since being abandoned by his erstwhile partner on the OKC Thunder lineup, guard Russell Westbrook has been putting up MVP numbers to lead a likely noncontender for the NBA 2016-17 championship.
Oh boy, was KD a loss. But that’s all over now, so my fave Thunder has had to pick up the pieces in their drive towards at least a playoff slot. They haven’t been doing that badly as expected, sporting a 15-9 record as of this writing, after scraping past the Celtics last Monday.
OKC has been notable in stringing up comeback wins when its defense stiffens up in the last quarter, as when they rallied from 13 points down against the Celtics to eke out a last- minute turnaround, thanks to Russell’s characteristic late-game heroics.
Unfortunately, it was the game that ended his triple-double streak at seven straight, as he tallied only six assists to go with 12 rebounds and 37 points. With the seven consecutive triple- doubles, Westbrook had tied the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) Michael Jordan who accomplished the feat in 1989. A pity, however, as two more in succession would’ve tied Wilt Chamberlain’s nine straight of March 1968, still the historic best.
In any case, RW can start a streak all over again, and he has ample chance to do this with 58 games still to play. Thus far, he’s had 12 in the season, in only 24 games. He’s the NBA’s active leader in the category and ranks sixth all- time with 49 thus far in his career.
On pace for at least 35 this season, it would move him past Larry Bird (59) for fifth on the career list and get him within striking distance of Chamberlain’s 78. For the nonce, he’s averaging a triple double, which only Oscar Robertson had managed for an entire year, with 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists per game in 1961-62.
Westbrook currently ranks 12th in rebounding, with centers and power forwards ahead of him. His caroms total has increased with the departure of both Durant and Serge Ibaka. Now his positioning and agility stand him in good stead to keep averaging a triple double, and a marvelous feat it would be if he manages to keep it up the entire year. I t’s been the year of triple doubles, actually, with James Harden and LeBron James so far collecting four and three, respectively, the young phenom Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks with two, and Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, Marc Gasol and Julius Randle at one each.
Westbrook also leads the double-double stats sheet with 19, with Andre Drummond close behind at 18, while Harden and Hassan Whiteside have 17 each.
Early as it is, the season has been exciting, with other individual records being set. LeBron James reached a milestone last week in a winning game against the Charlotte Hornets, not only as the first frontcourt player in NBA history to record 7,000 assists, but as the first cager to post 27,000 points and 7,000 rebounds. It was also his best scoring game of the season, tallying 44 points and narrowly missing another triple double with 10 assists and nine rebounds.
Two years ago, the best player on the planet had set the assists record for forwards when he eclipsed Scottie Pippens’ career mark of 6,135. LBJ now ranks 16th on the all- time assists list, with only guards ahead of him. And if he keeps up his season average and career high of 9.1 assists, he should finish the season ranked 12th all-time in feeds. On the all-time scoring list, James has passed Elvin Hayes for ninth. He needs 48 rebounds to crack the top 100 all-time in rebounds.
For his part, Chris Paul of the LA Clippers notched the first 20-20 game of his career against the Pelicans over the weekend, when he helped his team score a season-high 133 points. Even more remarkable, CP3 became the first player since 1977-78, when individual turnovers were first recorded, to log 20 points, 20 assists and zero turnovers in a game.
Historic efficiency that was, indeed, although it was presaged earlier this season when he played four games without a turnover, while averaging 7.8 assists.
Another noteworthy revelation has been the big change in James Harden’s game. While he had simply topscored for the Houston Rockets in previous seasons, now he’s been dishing out the feeds in outstanding fashion. As of the weekend, he ranked first in assists with 11.6 to edge out Westbrook at 11.3.
To think that both players, once upon a time, were teammates in the OKC Thunder, together with not exactly a third wheel in Kevin Durant. Well, a consolation for this Thunders fan has been the fact that separately, each one has matured to peak efficiency.
Much as I love to root for a team over long periods, without having to jump onto a bandwagon that favors inherently strong teams with a collection of superstars, I can’t hope for the Thunder to make it that far in the play-offs. The best prospect appears to be a sixth-place finish, behind the Warriors, Spurs, Clippers, Rockets and Grizzlies. OKC could then upset the Clippers in Round One. But to expect them to make it past the Spurs? And run into the buzzsaw that is Golden State? Not a chance.
When my Thunder are out of it, I will then transfer my allegiance to the Spurs, or even the Rockets. Never to the cynically manufactured Warriors. But if Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green fulfill their expected destiny for a rematch with the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, then I’m back to cheering on LeBron.
There’s a long way to go. But each day, getting to watch an NBA game or two, or three or four, has been pretty much the only source of gratification in these otherwise parlous times — of much mourning on account of social realism if not reality.
While I’ve subscribed to SkyCable’s NBA Premium channel for the past several years, I’m also very grateful for Solar’s BTV or Channel 33 as the official NBA carrying station for local television. Sometimes there’s also a telecast in Filipino over Sky’s Channel 17 or ABS-CBN Sports, and at times on Fox Sports.
At a meeting of the MMFF 2016 ExeCom and selection committee, I ran into Solar bossman Wilson Tieng, and couldn’t help but thank him for Basketball TV, with which I’ve become intimate.
It features “NBA Gametime” nightly at 10:30 p.m. for the day’s wrap-up, in case one has missed out on the live action. There’s also the entertaining “The Starters” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, “Open Court” nearly daily, and even a featured “NBA D- League Game of the Week” on Fridays. At odd hours, BTV also features match-ups in lesser-known local leagues.
All that basketball spells a grand escape from the reality of the times, and often it can be scintillating. Oh, okay, I’ll also mention that the Splash Brothers of the villain-team of the year also made their marks: Klay with the best scoring performance thus far with 60 points, and Steph with a record 13 triples. But with that turncoat Kevin, their karma should pull ’ em down by the season’s finale.