Westbrook breaks triple-doubles mark

Russell Westbrook broke Oscar Robertson’s 56-year-old record with his 42nd triple-double of the season Sunday, then he broke the Denver Nuggets’ hearts with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for a 106-105 victory.

That eliminated the Nuggets from playoff contention.

Westbrook had 50 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in breaking Robertson’s record of 41 triple-doubles that stood since the 1961-62 season.

Westbrook’s recordbreaking assist came with 4:17 remaining after a series of missed shots delayed his historic moment

With his triple-double in the books, Westbrook scored his team’s final 13 points, including a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded after a timeout with 2.9 seconds left.

Kyle Single inbounded the ball to Steven Adams, who fed Westbrook for the winner.

Danilo Gallinari scored 22 of his seasonhigh 34 points in the third quarter to lead the Nuggets, who were hoping to take the race with Portland for the final Western Conference playoff spot down to the final two games.

Before tip-off, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said he wouldn’t care if Westbrook broke the record so long as it came in a loss.

“I want to win. That’s the most important thing for me is if we get a win and he breaks the record, gets a tripledouble, so be it,” Malone said.

“I think the most important analytical stat out there is wins and we need to win today if we want to continue to go on this road trip and play meaningful basketball for the last two games.”

The Nuggets then blew their double-digit lead by allowing Westbrook to score the game’s final eight points.

The Thunder is locked into the sixth seed and will face Houston in the first round of the playoffs in a showdown between Westbrook and his chief rival for the MVP award, Rockets point guard James Harden.

Westbrook had 23 points, a dozen boards and half a dozen assists by the time the Thunder went to the locker room trailing 53-52 at halftime at the Pepsi Center.

Baseball

TEBOW HOMERS AGAIN >> Tim Tebow has completed his first series with the Columbia Fireflies, the New York Mets Single-A affiliate.

The former NFL quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy at Florida homered twice in the three games he played against the Augusta GreenJacktets. Tebow was given the day off Saturday.

Tebow hit a two-run home run in his first plate appearance on Thursday night. Tebow drove the ball to deep left center but briefly stopped at second base thinking it was a ground rule double. He continued his trip around the bases after seeing the umpire signifying it was a home run. Tebow added a second home run on Sunday, a threerun shot to right field. He’s one shy of Michael Jordan’s total with Double-A Birmingham in 1994.

After three games, Tebow is 3 of 13 (.230) with five RBI. He’s also struck out five times and left 13 runners on base.

JACK DEMPSEY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook celebrates after hitting a buzzer-beater 3-point shot in 106-105 win over Denver on April 9.