It was a historical Sunday night for Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Westbrook finished his unreal season by adding another triple-double and hitting a long distance game winner. He dished his 10th assist of the game, that gave him a 42nd triple-double of the season, with four minutes left on the clock. With that assist, Westbrook became a first man in the NBA history to have that many triple-doubles in one season. Oscar Robertson had 41 in a 1961/1962 season. And what a way to do it.
The course of the game
The Thunder came to Denver with no ambitions, as they secured the 6th seed.
The Denver Nuggets, on the other side, desperately needed a win in order to continue their dreams about the playoffs. After first half, they led by a single point. Then, Danilo Gallinari stepped up with some big three pointers that gave the Nuggets a double digit lead. Denver continued to score, while Russell Westbrook was trying to collect his final assist. After he did, he gets a standing ovation from the home crowd. They still had a ten point lead, so they also enjoyed Russell's accomplishment. But, wait a minute. Westbrook stayed in the game and continued to score some baskets. And by some, I mean plenty. The Nuggets suddenly became sloppy with the ball, failing to score and producing some turnovers.
Westbrook took advantage of it and scored last 15 points for the Thunder, including a wild three pointer at the buzzer. Russell finished the game with 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists, while shooting 17 of 32 from the field and 11 of 11 from the free throw line. Enes Kanter was a second scoring option for the Oklahoma City Thunder, with 15 points and Steven Adams added a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds.
The earlier mentioned Danilo Gallinari scored a season high 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 6 rebounds for the Nuggets.
Impressions of a historical season
Here's what Russell Westbrook said about his record: „It is amazing. And it's something I never dreamed about as a kid.“
Oscar Robertson, a man whose record has been broken, also commented on Russell's amazing year: „I couldn't be happier for him.
Congrats Russell Westbrook on a magnificent season! Records are made to be broken. If someone breaks the record, that means they have reached a level of perfection and you have to give them respect.“
Damian Lillard wrote on his Facebook profile that Westbrook should get an MVP award.
LeBron James also congratulated him on his twitter profile.
