The Russell Westbrook Runner-Up Award: The Rookie
By Chris Hughes
The Russell Westbrook Runner-up Award hopes to celebrate the little guy – the Robin to Russ’ Batman.
Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s week ended better than it started, with the side on a run of two wins in a row at the time of writing.
After a disappointing loss to the Charlotte Hornets the Thunder won back-to-back games in as many days, beating the Milwaukee Bucks before cementing their status as the sixth seed with a win over the seventh-placed Memphis Grizzlies.
But in a week that featured one loss and one game with no 20 point scorers, this week’s Russell Westbrook’s Runner-Up Award went to someone who’s week was quietly stellar – Domantas Sabonis.
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The rookie has fallen out of the starting five since the trade to sign Taj Gibson, but has given coach Billy Donovan a lot to think about.
For the season Sabonis is still averaging around six points per game with 3.9 boards to match. He’s averaged around 20 minutes of play per game.
Sabonis’ Week for OKC
It’s never helpful when planning the Russell Westbrook’s Runner-Up award if the Thunder start the gameweek with a loss. But, that’s exactly what happened when the Charlotte game finished 113-101 to the Hornets.
Despite several strong scoring performances from the likes of Victor Oladipo, the Thunder were outscored on the back-court with Kemba Walker and former OKC man Jeremy Lamb both finishing with double figures. Shooting guard Nicolas Batum also added nine.
Domantas Sabonis was one of only two players in the whole OKC squad to finish with a positive plus/minus differential. He finished with five points whilst also converting his only attempt from beyond the arc.
From just 13 minutes of play the 20-year-old also added a single rebound and was proactive on both offense and defense from his short spell on the court, with both himself and Jerami Grant making a difference.
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More Highlights:
In the back-to-back wins Sabonis continued his quietly effective form. Although against Milwaukee just about every Thunder player did well.
The power forward finished with 11 points, his first double-digit points haul since early March. Meaning he averaged nearly a point a minute from his time on the court.
What’s more, he added a single assist and five defensive rebounds to his stat-sheet, helping himself to one of his more lucrative evenings of late.
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In the must-win game against Memphis, Sabonis performed well enough to become the only Thunder player to have a positive plus/minus differential in every game of the five-day stretch, thanks to another five points against the Grizzlies.
The points came in the exact same fashion as in the Charlotte game, through one three-pointer and one from within the two-point zone. He finished with a 50-percent shot conversion for the night.
It also meant that from a collective 39 minutes, Sabonis had one turnover and missed one free-throw. This further emphasizing his consistent week for the Thunder.
If you enjoyed this week’s Russell Westbrook Runner-Up award, then check out Chris Hughes’ Thunderous Intentions profile for older editions of the series.