No triple-double, but Westbrook scores 40-plus in 3rd straight

There's only so much a man can do on his own, even if that man is Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, who's on the verge of becoming just the second player ever to average a triple-double for an entire season.

Well, triple-double No. 31 didn't come his way Thursday in a heartbreaking 114-109 road loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, but that's because he focused more of his attention on scoring to keep the Thunder in the game.

Westbrook finished with 45 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in 36 minutes, but it took him 36 shots from the field to get there (he converted 12). To put those numbers in perspective, no other player in the Thunder's starting lineup attempted more than three shots, or scored more than six points.

Nonetheless, this was the third straight game the six-time All-Star dropped 40 or more points. Westbrook had 41 points against the New Orleans Pelicans last Sunday, then followed that up with 43 two days later against the Utah Jazz.

He also notched a triple-double in those games, and had he tallied one against Portland, he would have become the first player ever with three consecutive 40-point triple-doubles.

Westbrook, however, becomes just the fourth player since the league's merger to have multiple three-game stretches of at least 40 points in a single season, with the last to pull it off being Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant (2005-06).

From Dec. 19-23, Westbrook had outings of 46, 42, and 45 points against the Atlanta Hawks, Pelicans, and Boston Celtics, respectively.