With an assist on Semaj Christon's three-pointer from the corner with 4:16 to play on Sunday, Russell Westbrook notched his 42nd triple-double of the season to break Oscar Robertson's 55-year-old National Basketball Association record. Their next games are against the Mavericks at American Airlines Arena, then they have a rematch against Russell Westbrook and the Thunder at Oklahoma City, so hopefully, they can obtain revenge against Westbrook after what he did to Denver and the die-hard Nuggets fans.
The Thunder will face Houston Rockets in the first round of playoffs, providing a classic confrontation between Westbrook and MVP rival James Harden, who was traded out of Oklahoma City for the draft pick that became Steven Adams.
While the idea of Westbrook averaging a triple-double was a nice idea at the start of the season, he opened the year posting just two in his first nine games.
That's right. From the 1960-61 to 1964-65 seasons, Robertson averaged 30.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 10.6 assists over a 384-game period. He entered halftime with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
"My motto is 'why not?', and I always stick by it, regardless of what people say what's possible and not possible". "I thought winning was what it's all about".
"If he gets a triple double and we win, at the end of the day that's what matters", Nuggets coach Mike Malone said.
In any other season that doesn't include standout season performances from Westbrook and Harden, LeBron James elevated front and center as the front-runner to win another regular-season MVP award.
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Russell Westbrook couldn't stop saying how blessed he was. Their hopes were on the line in the final minute of the game, but they couldn't stop Westbrook from scoring and Westbrook took advantage of it.
Westbrook almost had his 10th assist with two minutes left in the third quarter but Enes Kanter lost the handle going up for the basket and Westbrook took a seat until the fourth quarter.
With the crowd again on its feet anticipating history, Westbrook passed to Domatas Sabonis, whose jumper rimmed out at 7:16. Jokic missed a runner on the Nuggets' last possession, and Westbrook collected the rebound with 2.9 seconds left to set up Oklahoma City's final chance.
Doug McDermott (left knee soreness) did not play in the win over the Nuggets.
Given that the Thunder, and now Westbrook, have nothing to play for over those final two games, it will be interesting to see if their star point guard gets some much-needed rest and recovery time ahead of the series against the Rockets.
The Thunder will close out its four-game road trip on Tuesday when it takes on the Timberwolves in Minnesota.
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