Westbrook has another huge night for Wizards
While Russell Westbrook continues to chase down one of the NBA’s toughest records, his longtime head coach Scott Brooks moved him up one spot on an unscientific list.
His own. Westbrook had the third game in NBA history with 20plus rebounds and 20plus assists — he and Wilt Chamberlain have the other two — and the surging Washington Wizards moved closer to Indiana in the Eastern Conference playoff standings by downing the Pacers 154141 on Monday night.
Westbrook had 14 points to go with his careerhigh 21 rebounds and careerhightying 24 assists, his leagueleading 32nd tripledouble of the season. He has 178 tripledoubles, three short of Oscar Robertson’s record, with seven games remaining for Washington.
Magic Johnson had 138 tripledoubles, and Brooks — who coached Westbrook for seven seasons in Oklahoma City before they reunited in Washington this season — said he now believes Westbrook is the secondbest point guard in NBA history behind Johnson.
“He’s amazing — superhuman at times,” Brooks said after admitting he’s running out of ways to describe what Westbrook does on a nightly basis.
“Point guards don’t do what he does. They’re not built that way.”
Washington finished the first half with a 208 run over the final 4:15 to take an 8266 lead at the break. Westbrook had three of his 11 secondquarter assists during that stretch. It was Washington’s highestscoring first half of the season.
Westbrook had 14 assists and 12 rebounds at the half while taking just three shots.
Westbrook’s layup with 10:23 left in the third clinched his tripledouble. His 32 are the fourth most in any NBA season; he holds the record with 42.
Lakers 93, Nuggets 89: Anthony Davis scored 25 points to help Los Angeles end a three-game skid with a home win over Denver. Nikola Jokic had 32 points and nine rebounds for the Nuggets.
Knicks 118, Grizzlies 104: Julius Randle scored 28 points to push New York to a road win over Memphis. With the win, the Knicks are assured of their first winning record in a season since going 54-28 in 2012-13. Derrick Rose came off the bench and dropped a season-high 25 points.
Jazz 110, Spurs 99: Bojan Bogdanovic scored 25 points and Rudy Gobert tallied 24 points and 15 rebounds to help Utah beat San Antonio in Salt Lake City. Jordan Clarkson added 16 points for the Jazz.
76ers 106, Bulls 94: Tobias Harris scored 21 points and visiting Philadelphia won its fifth straight game. The 76ers built a big third-quarter lead and then held off Chicago, staying ahead of the Nets for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Magic 119, Pistons 112: Mo Bamba had 22 points and 15 rebounds — both career highs — to help Orlando win in Detroit. Saddiq Bey led the Pistons with 26 points in a game that had little at stake.
Hawks 123, Trail Blazers: Danilo Gallinari made seven 3-pointers and finished with 28 points, leading host Atlanta to a win over Portland. The Hawks snapped Portland’s four-game winning streak, which had come entirely on the road.
Anthony climbs list: Portland’s Carmelo Anthony, 36, moved into 10th place on the NBA’s career scoring list with 14 points against the Hawks. Anthony now has 27,318 points in his career, surpassing Elvin Hayes (27,313) to move into the Top 10. Next up for Anthony: Moses Malone at 27,409s.
Schroder out: With LeBron James still working himself back to full strength from a sprained right ankle, the Lakers found out Monday they’ll be without their other point guard for more than a week. Dennis Schroder entered the league’s coronavirus health and safety protocol Sunday and will miss at least 10 days.