Westbrook ties record, Cavs shine
LOS ANGELES: Russell Westbrook tied Oscar Robertson’s record for most tripledoubles in an NBA season on Tuesday, his 41st triple-double of the campaign fuelling the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 110-79 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Westbrook drained a three-pointer just before half-time to finish the first half with 12 points.
Minutes into the third period he notched his 10th rebound and within seconds had delivered a 10th assist on Taj Gibson’s basket that put the Thunder up 67-42.
Fans in Oklahoma City went wild, and chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” rang out for Westbrook, who raised an arm in acknowledgement as the feat was recognised by the arena announcer when play was stopped.
“It’s something I could never have dreams of growing up,” said Westbrook.
Westbrook finished the game with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists and the play-off-bound Thunder snapped a twogame skid.
With a seventh straight triple-double, Westbrook matched his career-high streak fashioned earlier this season.
Westbrook’s 41 triple-doubles this season are more than 10 NBA teams have amassed in their club histories.
Cavaliers great LeBron James took his career tally of triple-doubles to 54 on Tuesday with his 12th of the season, scoring 18 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists in Cleveland’s 122-102 victory over the Orlando Magic.
There were wins for the top two teams in the West as the Golden State Warriors cruised to a 121-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves while the San Antonio Spurs battled to a 95-89 overtime victory over the Grizzlies.
Klay Thompson poured in 41 points for the Warriors, who won their 12th straight game.
Thompson’s second 40-point game of the season featured seven three-pointers in 14 attempts. Stephen Curry drained three three-pointers on his way to 19 points and handed out a game-high nine assists.
The Spurs and Grizzlies were tied 86-86 with 2:15 minutes to play in overtime before Pau Gasol and Patty Mills nailed threepointers on back-to-back possessions to put the Spurs ahead for good.
Kawhi Leonard made three free throws in the final minute to seal it, finishing with 32 points and 12 rebounds.
Elsewhere in the West, the Portland Trail Blazers were left clinging to a half-game lead over the Denver Nuggets for the eighth and final play-off seed after they were dominated 106-87 by the Utah Jazz.
The Nuggets pulled off a crucial 134-131 victory in New Orleans that eliminated the Pelicans from play-off contention.