Russell Westbrook Shows Off The Total Package With 43 Points, Nine Rebounds, And Eight Assists

43 points, nine rebounds, eight assists.

By now, those mind-blowing numbers are almost just another game for Russell Westbrook. No player in basketball overstuffs the box score with more frequency than the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar, who garnered those statistics in his team’s 110-103 victory over the increasingly short-handed New Orleans Pelicans – and did it 48 hours after dropping 40 points and 14 assists on the Memphis Grizzlies.

But not even sheer production is doing Westbrook’s sweeping impact justice these days.

Consider that he scored on four consecutive possessions after a triple by New Orleans’ Luke Babbitt cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 97-94 with 3:24 remaining in the game. An and-1 runner, sprinting lefty finish in transition, pull-up 21-footer, and pair of free throws later, the Thunder held an eight-point advantage that they were never in serious danger of relinquishing.

Westbrook, though, hardly saves his dominance for crunch time. If not for the singular brilliance of Stephen Curry, it’s Oklahoma City’s point guard who would be a runaway MVP favorite in the season’s early going – as much for his all-encompassing offensive influence as the stunning statistics and eye-popping highlights.

After Wednesday’s game, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry could do nothing but tip his hat to the four-time All-Star. “Russell made some really tough, difficult shots and there’s not a whole lot you can do about that,” he told the Associated Press.

That’s true. But what’s obvious this season – and has been for years, actually – is that Westbrook does many things other than score that leave the opposition in a perpetual state of helplessness. And more often than not, he leads the Thunder to victory in the process.

×