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Russell Westbrook breaks 2,000 points in a season

By Matthew Hallett

Feb 28, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after being fouled on the go ahead basket against the Utah Jazz during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after being fouled on the go ahead basket against the Utah Jazz during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 28, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) talks with referee J.T. Orr (72) during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons won 120-113 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) talks with referee J.T. Orr (72) during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons won 120-113 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

The Near Misses

There are three players who are a chance of getting near the 2,000 point number but at their current rates, they will just miss out.

Damian Lillard

Since his four other starters defected at the end of the 2014-15 season, Damian Lillard has been the heartbeat of the Portland Trailblazers. He did not manage the 2,000 point season last year due to injury.

Must Read: Dissecting The OKC Thunder Road Woes And Regressing Defense

This season, Lillard has missed five games and is currently scoring at 25.9 points per game. This pace would see Lillard miss by two points.

Karl-Anthony Towns

As the only second year player on this list, Karl-Anthony Towns is showing how special he is as a player. He is yet to take the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Playoffs but when their current big three of Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine mature, look out.

Towns is averaging 24.0 points per game. This is just 0.39 under what he needs to average over the season to get to the 2,000 point mark. This number will give Towns a season tally of 1,968 points, just missing by 32 points. Knowing Towns, he will probably put up some massive numbers towards the end of the season and just get over the line.

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Kyrie Irving

I am a little surprised that the teammates who may get to the 2,000 point mark this year are from Cleveland and not Golden State. Up until his injury Kevin Durant and Curry looked likely to accomplish this feat. Teammates have only scored 2,000 points in the season season four times.

In 1964-65 Jerry West and Elgin Baylor managed to accomplish this feat playing for the Lakers. Mack Calvin and Larry Jones accomplished this feat in 1970-71 playing for the Floridians in the ABA.

The third time this feat was accomplished was in 1972-73 when Pete Maravich and Lou Hudson of the Atlanta Hawks both topped 2,000 points. The fourth and only other time that this was done was by Larry Bird and Kevin McHale of the Boston Celtics in 1986-87. Needless to say, it is hard to achieve.

Irving needs to increase his output to hit the historic mark. He has missed nine games on the season so his 25.0 scoring average will only net him 1,886 points. Mind you, if Irving gets going on one of his scoring streaks, look out.

The Last Word

Russell Westbrook will not be the only player this season to score 2,000 points. He is the first and has the opportunity to have move a long way up the historical leader board. 18 games is a long time in a regular season for someone like Russell Westbrook.

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