Russell Westbrook Top 10 list from historic triple-double season

Number 3: Produces 12 Triple-Doubles in 16 games

Talk about putting a punctuation mark on the stretch run. In precisely a month (March 9 to April 9, 2017) Westbrook went on a terror posting 12 triple-double games. The Thunder only lost three of those games. Several teams OKC beat during this period were among the elite or vying for playoff positioning.

More importantly, many of these efforts came in spectacular fashion fueled by coming back efforts from double-digit deficits. In particular,  the three victories over Dallas, Orlando, and Denver stand out in this regard.

Previously, I thought Mark Cuban might be on to something by chastising Westbrook. This because every time OKC faced Dallas he seemingly pressed to perform.  This was worrisome given everyone knows how badly Russ wants to beat the Warriors. But, this breakthrough and the manner in which he accomplished the win for the Thunder stood out as a watershed moment for Westbrook.

Cuban gets Served:

In the Mavericks contest, the Thunder squad trailed the majority of the game and were down 14 with under 5 minutes to play. Russ went into Beastbrook mode and single-handedly won the game for OKC.  He scored 37 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and added 10 assists.

Westbrook’s Magic Show:

In the Orlando Magic game, the Thunder trailed by double digits throughout the contest until Westbrook went on a terror. At game end, Westbrook had tallied the highest-scoring triple-double NBA history and captured the victory for the Thunder.

The final game on this list is best suited to discuss in an upcoming slide…