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An Oscar achievement for Westbrook
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OKLAHOMA City star Russell Westbrook broke Oscar Robertson’s 55-year-old record with his 42nd triple-double of the NBA season — then broke the Denver Nuggets’ hearts with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in a 106-105 Thunder triumph.
Westbrook finished the day with 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.
It was yet another remarkable display of the all-round excellence that a triple-double — the achievement of double-digit totals in three of five key statistical categories — has come to represent.
“I’m so thankful to play the game I love every night,” Westbrook said, adding that he would give the game ball to his parents. “It’s an unbelievable blessing.”
He delivered his 10th assist of the game with 4:17 left in the 4th quarter.
Westbrook had 32 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists in three quarters.
Fans in Denver, eager to see history made, cheered every time he passed the ball to a teammate with a possible 10th assist on the cards, standing with cellphone cameras at the ready.
They thought they could afford to fete Westbrook, with the Nuggets comfortably ahead in a game they had to win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
After three near-misses, Westbrook found Simaj Christon who drained a 3. “I was open ... they probably would’ve booed if I didn’t shoot,” Christon said.
Instead there was an ovation, and Westbrook raised his hand in a wave when the public address announcer acknowledged the feat.
“I’ve been feeling it for a while,” he said of the crowd’s support. “Everywhere I’ve been the crowd’s been like that.
“It’s been amazing. It’s something I could never dream about growing up in inner-city Los Angeles.”
But with his 10th assist and the triple-double locked down, Westbrook went to work on the Nuggets’ 10-point lead.
He scored the Thunder’s final 13 points, including his 36-foot game-winner at the death after a time-out was called with 2.9 seconds remaining.
This was his third 50-plus-point triple-double of the season — another record. He had already joined Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double over the course of a season.
Westbrook said he never listened to those who said matching — and passing — Robertson was impossible.
“My motto was ‘Why not?’” said Westbrook, whose 79th career triple-double moved him past Wilt Chamberlain for fourth place on the all-time list.
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