After ripping down the rebound following a Pau Gasol miss, Russell Westbrook took off up court. With little to slow him down, he turned on the jet engines and accelerated past the rest of the Lakers poor transition defense to flush it over Kent Bazmore.
Russ crosses over at the last minute to set up that right-handed slam, and there’s nothing Bazemore can do to stop him.
We know you’re going to get mad that we’re showing a Russ highlight even as Jodie Meeks dropped a career-high 42 points and the Lakers upset the Thunder, 114-110. We’ve got those highlights too, for you completists.
But there’s something that’s both aesthetically pleasing and more visceral about Russell’s forays to the rim. They are objectively beautiful, but they also trigger man’s primordial urge to dominate. Plus, we agree with Russ, “Why not?”
You can now commence flogging us in the comments for disregarding the Lakers and Meeks, but Russell’s importance to the Thunder — even after Sunday’s awful game (7-for-23 shooting and eight turnovers) — should not be questioned. Despite OKC’s rocky D since Russ came back from injury, we know the Thunder need him to have any chance coming out of the Western Conference.
What do you think?
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