You know a player had a good night when he breaks a record in both the league's and his team's history.
Russell Westbrook became the Wizards/Bullets franchise all-time leader in triple-doubles on Monday with a masterful performance of 35 points, 21 assists and 14 rebounds. It was his 16th triple-double in only 38 games, besting Darrell Walker's 15 which required 251 games and stood as the record for 30 years until Westbrook broke it.
Westbrook also became the first player in NBA history to have a 35-point, 20-assist triple-double. And he's just the third player ever to have 30-plus points and 20-plus assists in any triple-double, joining Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson.
Westbrook closed out his night with 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Wizards to a much-needed victory. It was one of the best games ever put in by a Wizards/Bullets player.
"I always feel like I’m able to do things that nobody else can do on the floor. I just believe that when I step on the floor every night," Westbrook said.
Westbrook was nonchalant in discussing the history he made, perhaps because he's used to making history. The all-time triple-doubles record for the Wizards franchise seemed like an inevitability for him. No one has been more closely associated with the stat in the modern NBA and just two years ago Westbrook had 34 triple-doubles in 71 games playing for the Thunder.
So, it comes as no surprise Westbrook quickly assumed the top spot in Wizards' franchise history. But for him to be the first player to have a triple-double with at least 35 points and 20 assists, that is arguably quite surprising considering Westbrook is now 32 years old and presumably on the downturn of his athletic prime.
Of all Westbrook's triple-doubles, and he now has 162 after Monday's, only twice before had he recorded 20 assists or more. In those games, he never scored more than 26 points. In the 27 times he previously scored at least 35 when recording a triple-double, he never had more than 17 assists.
Westbrook became just the fourth player in Wizards/Bullets history to have at least 20 assists in a game. John Wall, the guy he was traded for, is the only other player to do it this century.
"It’s just incredible... He does things that I’ve never seen before in history and I’ve been in this league for 30 years," head coach Scott Brooks said.
Brooks has been around Westbrook long enough to expect greatness. They, of course, spent seven seasons together in Oklahoma City before reuniting once again in Washington.
What Westbrook did on Monday is, however, new to many of the young guys on Washington's roster. Like, Rui Hachimura who had 26 points and eight rebounds in the victory over Indiana on Monday.
"When I was growing up, I saw him like that in OKC. Now, I’m actually playing with him. This is actually crazy to me. Growing up, I looked up to him like as a model [for me]," Hachimura said.
"Russ had quite a bit of assists to me, so I’ve definitely gotta get him some dinner or something," Chandler Hutchison said.
Hutchison believes Westbrook's assists are a result of him caring for his teammates. He was impressed how on his first day in the Wizards' practice facility after being traded from the Bulls, Westbrook went out of his way to come up and introduce himself.
"I should be the one going up to him," Hutchison said of the former MVP.
This season has not been the smoothest ride for Westbrook and the Wizards. He began the season with a quadriceps injury, which affected his play significantly, and the team has been through a laundry list of obstacles en route to a 17-28 record.
Westbrook, however, has shaped up to where he is now averaging a triple-double: 21.8 points, 10.5 assists and 10.1 rebounds per game. His shooting percentages have also come up to around his career averages; 43.5 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from three.
The wins haven't been there as much as Westbrook would like, but he's putting up some ridiculous numbers, just like he has for many years.
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March 30, 2021 at 11:19AM
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Russell Westbrook's history-making triple-double a reminder he's still got it - NBC Sports
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