Friday night was an exciting night in Phoenix. Home team Phoenix Suns hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder in front of a sellout crowd of 18 thousand fans in Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix. Most of them were hoping they'll witness another historic performance from OKC's all-star point guard Russell Westbrook. Fans were also hoping that their team can finally get the win after 13 straight losses.
Phoenix's last win came almost a month ago when they won the game against Dallas on the road.
13 game losing streak comes to an end
The Thunder came into this matchup after winning their previous two games against the Grizzlies and the Bucks. They've also won three games in a row on the road before coming to Phoenix on Friday night, but when the game started, it felt like a loss was inevitable. Phoenix opened up the game with a big first quarter, outscoring the Thunder 32-19 in that period. By halftime it was already clear that the Suns will finally get a much-needed win, it was 71-48 for the home team.
It was Suns' highest scoring first-half of the season. The final score was 120-99 for the Suns. Phoenix's biggest lead in the game was 28 points (71-43). They shot 51.8% from the field and connected on 44.4% of their three-point attempts. It was a well-balanced scoring night for Phoenix as six players scored at least 10 points. Devin Booker led the way with 37 points, five rebounds, and four assists. He scored 21 of his team's 25 points in the fourth quarter. TJ Warren helped with 23 points and 16 rebounds, while Tyler Ulis added 12 points and five assists.
History has been made
Thunder played an awful game on Friday night, and it all started with their leader Russell Westbrook. OKC shot 36.6% from the field and an even worse percentage from the three-point land - 22.6%.
They missed 11 free throws and had just 13 assists as a team. Their superstar point guard Russell Westbrook had a subpar performance. He missed his first 11 shots and finished the game with just six field goals made. Westbrook came into this game with 41 triple-doubles this season, one triple-double away from setting a new NBA record for most in a single season. He was two assists shy of it on Friday night against Phoenix as he finished the game with 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. With eight assists in this one, Westbrook joined Oscar Robertson as only players to ever average a triple-double for the season. With three games remaining in the regular season for OKC, Russell will have three more chances to claim his 42nd triple-double of the season and rewrite the history books again.