In a season ripe with signature moments, Russell Westbrook may have saved his most memorable performance for Sunday night, notching triple-double No. 42 in the process.
With 1:13 left in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets, Steven Adams fumbled a Russell Westbrook pass that resulted in a turnover.
As a result, Denver took possession with a seven-point lead. The next 73 seconds will be replayed over and over in the heads of all Nuggets players and personnel until next season starts.
After a Jamal Murray–Nikola Jokic pick-and-pop resulted in a missed 3-pointer by Jokic, Westbrook grabbed the rebound and began to pull up for one of his recognizable treys from the top of the key.
Except he didn’t, pump faking the rookie Murray out of his shoes and forcing a foul call behind the line for three free throws. Westbrook made all three.
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Victor Oladipo drew a charge against Wilson Chandler and Westbrook banked in a layup to bring the game within two with 27 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Denver turned a scramble into a Jokic floater that caromed off the rim and into Westbrook’s hands and the Thunder called a timeout with 2.9 seconds remaining in the game, down two.
What happened next will be played on repeat on every sports channel for the next few days.
With that shot, Westbrook ensured that he clinched his third 50-point triple-double of the season and eliminated Denver from playoff contention.
The shot added to a library of “Heisman moments” Westbrook has provided this season. According to Basketball Reference, Westbrook leads the league by a wide margin in shots made with under two minutes left and the game margin at or less than five points.
| Rk | Player | Season | Tm | G | FG ▼ | FGA | FG% | FGX | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 3PX | eFG% | Ast’d | %Ast’d |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russell Westbrook | 2016-17 | OKC | 30 | 41 | 99 | .414 | 58 | 12 | 37 | .324 | 25 | .475 | 2 | .049 |
| 2 | Kemba Walker | 2016-17 | CHO | 28 | 28 | 58 | .483 | 30 | 10 | 25 | .400 | 15 | .569 | 8 | .286 |
| 3 | DeMar DeRozan | 2016-17 | TOR | 26 | 28 | 55 | .509 | 27 | 2 | 7 | .286 | 5 | .527 | 4 | .143 |
| 4 | DeMarcus Cousins | 2016-17 | TOT | 30 | 27 | 70 | .386 | 43 | 7 | 26 | .269 | 19 | .436 | 14 | .519 |
| 5 | Isaiah Thomas | 2016-17 | BOS | 29 | 27 | 64 | .422 | 37 | 9 | 22 | .409 | 13 | .492 | 7 | .259 |
| 6 | Anthony Davis | 2016-17 | NOP | 23 | 26 | 55 | .473 | 29 | 2 | 7 | .286 | 5 | .491 | 17 | .654 |
| 7 | Jimmy Butler | 2016-17 | CHI | 25 | 25 | 58 | .431 | 33 | 8 | 23 | .348 | 15 | .500 | 7 | .280 |
| 8 | Carmelo Anthony | 2016-17 | NYK | 27 | 24 | 58 | .414 | 34 | 3 | 16 | .188 | 13 | .440 | 6 | .250 |
| 9 | Paul George | 2016-17 | IND | 22 | 24 | 52 | .462 | 28 | 6 | 19 | .316 | 13 | .519 | 10 | .417 |
| 10 | C.J. McCollum | 2016-17 | POR | 26 | 24 | 47 | .511 | 23 | 6 | 14 | .429 | 8 | .574 | 9 | .375 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/10/2017.
In addition, Westbrook’s usage skyrockets to 62.3 percent in clutch situations, trumping his record-breaking usage percentage for the duration of the game.
All of this leads to the Thunder possessing the second-best net rating in the association in clutch situations, in large part thanks to Westbrook.
His play down the stretch of games is what his MVP case should be founded on and not on the sole basis of triple-doubles.
The numbers are astounding and doing it in all 82 games magnifies those numbers when many of Westbrook’s peers are not playing every night.
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When award voters sit down and review each candidate’s case, it is the clutch performances and eight game-winners that should be Westbrook’s closing argument. Those are numbers everyone agree are valued and matter most: turning plays into wins in crunch time.