Russell Westbrook notched another milestone in his historic career on Monday night when he moved into 25th place in the NBA's all-time scoring list in the Los Angeles Clippers' 121-104 win over the Miami Heat. In the process, he also joined an exclusive points and assists club.
Westbrook, who needed just three points entering the night to surpass Patrick Ewing, didn't waste any time. Shortly after checking into the game in the middle of the first quarter he hit a pull-up jumper, then converted a beautiful spinning layup a few possessions later to officially get the job done.
This wasn't a huge scoring night for Westbrook, but he stuffed the stat sheet in the win, finishing with eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 17 minutes off the bench.
For his career, Westbrook now has 24,821 points, and in addition to being 25th all-time is fourth among active players in scoring. Coincidentally, his teammate James Harden is next on the list in 24th, but given their roles at this point in their respective careers, it's unlikely Westbrook will catch him. Both, though, have more legends in their sight. Westbrook (and Harden) are on pace to surpass Jerry West (371 more points than Westbrook) and Reggie Miller (458 more points) before the end of the season.
Westbrook also made more history on Monday as he joined LeBron James and Oscar Robertson as the only players in the top 25 on the all-time scoring list and top 10 on the all-time assists list. Westbrook is ninth on the assists chart with 9,312. He could pass Robertson to move into eighth near the end of next season.
After voluntarily moving to the bench post-Harden trade, Westbrook has settled into an impact-sub role. In 21 games as a reserve, he's averaging 10.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists, while shooting 47.5% from the field.
The Clippers, meanwhile, have won three games in a row and are 16-5 since the lineup change with a plus-5.8 net rating -- the sixth-best mark in the league in that span. As a result, they've surged into fourth place in the Western Conference at 20-12.
