Westbrook on incredible stretch: 'My job is to do that every single night'
It's been an incredible week. An unbelievable month. An unfathomable six-week stretch. An MVP-caliber season.
Whatever lens of time you choose to use, the picture is the same: Russell Westbrook has been playing at an entirely different level than the league is accustomed to seeing. Triple-doubles, 40-point games and carrying a Kevin Durant-less Oklahoma City Thunder team have all become par for the course for Westbrook, who's just doing his job.
"My job is to do that every single night," Westbrook said Monday of his incredible run, which included his fifth triple-double in six games on Sunday. "Compete at a level that I don't think nobody else can do."
He is certainly doing that, performing at historic levels of late. To wit, here are his last six games:
| Date | MIN | PTS | RBS | AST | STL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 24 | 28 | 20 | 11 | 10 | 1 |
| Feb. 26 | 43 | 39 | 14 | 11 | 3 |
| Feb. 27 | 37 | 40 | 13 | 11 | 1 |
| March 1 | DNP - Broken face | ||||
| March 4 | 42 | 49 | 16 | 10 | 3 |
| March 5 | 38 | 43 | 8 | 7 | 2 |
| March 8 | 40 | 30 | 11 | 17 | 4 |
Westbrook has averaged 33.1 points, 9.6 rebounds and 10.5 assists over his last 15 games and he's averaging 27.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 8.3 assists on the season, truly rarefied air. He's not only scoring a ton and grabbing rebounds en masse - the assist average tells a story, but doesn't quite do his impact on the team justice.
Since Feb 1, Russell Westbrook had created 346 points via his assists. That's more than Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving COMBINED (332).
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) March 9, 2015
More important than his individual production is that the Thunder are 35-28, good for eighth in the Western Conference. They're 35-28 despite starting the season 5-13 due to injuries to Werstbrook and Durant, and their 30-15 run since has included multiple absences for the reigning MVP.
In games that Durant has missed but Westbrook has played, the Thunder have gone 12-9, a success rate even the most ardent Westbrook supporters would have doubted possible.
The Thunder hold a one-game edge on the New Orleans Pelicans for a playoff spot, and with Durant progressing as far as shooting jump shots Monday - the Thunder are 18-9 when both he and Westbrook play - the Golden State Warriors may be the most nervous one-seed of all time.