Russell Westbrook is not in the Hall of Fame. The masses, including me, were wrong. To have both Jordy Bahl and Alex Storako (plus Nicole May), is like Gasso a year ago having Jocelyn Alo and Tiare Jennings back-to-back in the batting order. Westbrooks Clippers were on their last chance to stay alive in the first-round playoff series. Russell Westbrook had a season-high 36 points, Westbrook made five 3-pointers without a miss and had 10 assists. It had become an afterthought of when, not if, Westbrook would surpass Robertson this season with his triple-double tear. Russell Westbrook III There is a reason one team in the area hangs 17 championship banners while the other covers up those 17 when they play. Ironically, Kawhi and George conspired to break up the Westbrook Thunder, by PG13 requesting a trade in 2019. Clippers guard Russell Westbrook, attempting a layup against Suns guard Damion Lee, finished with 25 points, nine assists and seven rebounds Sunday in Phoenix. Basketball-reference.com estimates that Poku spent 95% of his court time at center. Alas, a leg fracture limited Poku this season, and he played just 34 games. 9540614. He already had 21 points and 16 assists. Lue for MVC (most valuable coach)! 334. Bostons star forward Jayson Tatum outplayed Durant, scoring a lot while also defending Durant. Westbrook ). The Lakers MVP for the Memphis series should be Dillon Brooks. Again, though, the trends were there. Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. Pittsburgh: Kenny Pickett, 20th, 2022, 11. Triple Double are nicknames for Russell Westbrook. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. The Heat have the Bucks on the ropes after a 119114 victory in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Monday night. 95, he missed thirteen games and took nearly four hundred fewer shots than his award-winning season. 9 rebounds per game. I still see the high leg kicks and slow deliveries, and average arms behind the plate. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Has Russell Westbrook found a longterm NBA home with the Clippers? Clippers coach Tyronn Lue and forward Kawhi Leonard talk strategy along the sideline during a break in play in early April at Crypto.com Arena. Russell Westbrook has 5+ triple-doubles vs 23 teams, by far the most in NBA history. Instead of nurturing and/or providing excuses for poor play or behavior, these playoff head coaches provide support, discipline and leadership to their players. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Back in April, he tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee. 948. Only two men have ever recorded 180 or more triple-doubles. Westbrook has had a couple of big performances, the highlight so far being a 33-point outingin a road win over the Spurs, but his averages through 10 games stand at 19. Not all-star caliber. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. 3%4. Westbrook indicated that he wants to remain a Clipper and play with Kawhi and George. PHOENIX Russell Westbrook sprinted to steal the ball from Kevin Durant, sending Durant flying to the floor on his backside. 982), missed a year, and then completed his career with three games for Cleveland in 1984. Westbrook has done it while playing at a much slower pace than the league played at in the early 60s. April 26, 2023, 3:06 p.m. playoff The team does not have a single potential first-round pick on its roster and some wont even get drafted. Five schools have had two first-round quarterbacks; 14 schools have had one. The Clippers are a championship team when Paul George and Kawhi Leonard play together. But it was also a matchup between two men who had spent nearly a decade together as teammates, making the N.B.A. Rim protection: A. Pokusevski showed potential as a shot blocker last season. Westbrooks playoff shooting percentages: .410 field-goal, .357 3-point, .880 foul-shooting. Were going to get some time to rest, and lets go win a first series and then go from there.. 144. But the NBA world will celebrate Westbrook's triple-double greatness because milestones like these just don't change hands often. PHOENIX Russell Westbrook sprinted to steal the ball from Kevin Durant, sending Durant flying to the floor on his backside. How Many No. 8 Seeds Have Eliminated No. 1 Seeds in the NBA Letters should be brief and become the property of The Times. You can bet he's much more concerned with the turnovers and missed threes -- he's now 2-for-24 from deep in his last three games -- than the triple-double. This tenacity is the norm for him. The Suns beat the Clippers 136-130 Tuesday night, eliminating LA in five games in their first-round playoff series. The one name that I will always associate with the Clippers is Donald T. Sterling. Poku produced a superb block rate of 5.7 thats the percentage of opponents 2-point shots blocked by Poku while he was on the floor. 1: The first triple-double of Westbrook's NBA career came on March 2, 2009, with the Oklahoma City Thunder -- the only one of his rookie season. Since Durant left Oklahoma City and Westbrook behind in 2016 to sign with Golden State, he and Westbrook have played against each other 11 times, with That is the most such games since individual turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78. As Do you have a sports website? The biggest Clippers star of them all is coach Tyronn Lue. Russell Westbrooks 15th NBA season is over. Do you have a blog? The Law Did Not Treat Them Kindly. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. How Many That was clear on Tuesday, as Suns Coach Monty Williams made sure to acknowledge in his postgame news conference. Despite the heroics of former UCLA stars Powell and Westbrook, the Clippers sorely missed Leonards offense. Covington was 9 of 10 from the field, making all seven of his 3-point attempts. Now they will do battle in an unexpected series. What we all understand now is that Westbrooks career is not over. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. How do you make fast and fast job search scripts in PHP? The same cant be said for Kawhi Leonard or Paul George. Explore How many career 30+ point games does Russell The SPORTS REFERENCE and STATHEAD trademarks are owned exclusively by Sports Reference LLC. Westbrook was traded by the Thunder to Houston in 2019, and Westbrook played well teaming with James Harden. 419099814 4 yrsJAX4025254160172010. His prime is still ahead of him, which means we've yet to watch him mature at this point in his career. Why not stay another year, sharpen their skills, make some NIL money and improve their draft positions? All rights reserved. I see that the first two picks in the NFL draft were quarterbacks who prepped in the CIF Southern Section. In four games this series, Westbrook is averaging 26 points, Suns guard Devin Booker led all scorers with 47 points; Durant added 31, and Westbrook had 14. Russell Westbrook - Basketball-Reference.com After averaging 15.9 points per game for the Clippers this season, Westbrook has stepped up to take on the scoring load, averaging 26 points in the series OU: Kyler Murray, 1st, 2019 & Baker Mayfield, 1st, 2018, 18.