Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook’s pursuit of an Oscar remains ongoing.
With 41 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over the Pelicans on Sunday, Westbrook now has 29 triple-doubles, putting him on pace for 40, one shy of Oscar Robertson’s single-season record (set in 1961-62).
What made this game unique was Westbrook’s 21-point fourth quarter, the most points he has scored in the fourth quarter of a game in his career.
That gave him his seventh career 40-point triple-double. Elias Sports Bureau research shows that Westbrook’s seven ranks tied with Wilt Chamberlain for second all-time. Robertson ranks first with 22.
Westbrook scored all 16 of the Thunder’s points in the last six minutes of the game. In that span, he had seven plays in which he didn’t pass the ball from the start to the end of the possession. He had 14 no-pass possessions in the first 42 minutes of the game.
Elias notes that there have been six games this season in which a player scored his team’s final 15 (or more) points. Westbrook has three of them.
The Thunder are now 23-6 when Westbrook records a triple-double this season. They are 11-19 when he doesn’t.
What happened to Anthony Davis?
Anthony Davis’ 24 points in the first quarter were the most he has scored in any quarter. But he was held to 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting the rest of the way (he was 4-of-13 on contested shots). Davis was 4-of-13 shooting when defended by either Steven Adams or Taj Gibson, 11-of-15 when guarded by others.
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