The Thunder and Sixers gave us the most thrilling game of the NBA season so far on Friday night, a triple-overtime nail-biter that ended with a narrow 119-117 victory for OKC.
Russell Westbrook finished the contest with a historic triple-double – 27 points, 17 rebounds, 15 assists – joining elite company in becoming just the fourth player in NBA history to post such a stat line.
After the final buzzer, he couldn’t wait to let Joel Embiid hear about it, waving goodbye at him from the sideline and telling him to go home.
Russell Westbrook on waving goodbye to Joel Embiid after the buzzer: “I told him to go home.” pic.twitter.com/SUBIhfIIzu
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) December 16, 2017
It was in response to what Embiid did earlier in the contest to Steven Adams when the Thunder center earned his sixth foul. But even despite the loss, you know Embiid wasn’t about to let that go unanswered, so here’s what he had to say when speaking to reporters after the game.
Embiid on Westbrook: “The dude shot like 10/33, I wish I would have shot 33 times.”
(via @ZachGelb) pic.twitter.com/mMZtG8gzOt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 16, 2017
“He told me to go home. I mean, this is my home, so I guess it’s time for him to go home. They won the game. I give them a lot of credit. He did a lot of things, but the dude shot like 10 of 33. I wish I would have shot 33 times, I guess we would have had a better chance of actually winning the game. But you know, he told me to go home, and this is my home and I ain’t going nowhere.”
Embiid somehow always manages to get the last word in, even when he loses. It’s a pretty remarkable personality trait that you simply have to marvel at.
