Russell Westbrook passed Wilt Chamberlain for the second-most triple-doubles in one season Saturday, putting up 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in less than 20 minutes for his 32nd triple-double of the season as Oklahoma City raced out to a 20-point lead against the Utah Jazz. Westbrook needs nine triple-doubles in the final 16 games to surpass Oscar Robertson for the most in NBA history.
OKC announcer Brian Davis made a pretty astute comment when Westbrook nabbed his 10th rebound. “Another sub-20-minute triple double. Another.“
That’s pretty amazing.
Westbrook finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists (along with two steals and two blocks) in a 112-104 win to secure tiebreaker over the Jazz and pull back within four in the loss column of Utah.
It has become trendy in recent days to criticize Westbrook for “inefficiency.” He’s shooting 42 percent from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range. He’s second in turnovers. But so much of that is based on usage, and it ignores the fact that a better way to judge “efficiency” is by per-minute production. And Westbrook leads the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating. Some of that is boosted by his absurd 24.4 shots per game. (PER is boosted by volume shooting.) But it’s still evidence of how much production he gives the Thunder.
There will be MVP voters for whom it is just that simple. Russell Westbrook is on the verge of doing something only one player -- Robertson -- has ever done, averaging a triple-double for a season, and putting up the most triple-doubles in a season. Just the fact that Westbrook has passed Chamberlain, whose numbers were like some sort of nuclear accident that spawned mutant stats, says a lot about how historic this season is for him.
Westbrook might not win MVP, but his case is as good as anyone’s, and his place on the all-time triple-doubles list, even if he doesn’t get another this season, is absolute proof of that.
