With around five minutes left in the fourth period, Nick Young hit a three which brought the Lakers to within 95-91. Not long after the Young basket, Russell Westbrook completely took over the next three minutes or so in a display of basketball which has him No. 1 on my MVP list one week into this young regular season. Kawhi Leonard would be my No. 2 and LeBron would be my No. 3.
Back to the Laker game. After Westbrook flexed his muscles in those ‘pivotal’ minutes the final score read OKC Thunder 113-LA Lakers 96. You’d have to live in Oklahoma to know the exhilaration this first week of the season has provided. It’s been a special week for a city which had a gut punch of a year in 2016 on multiple fronts.
After Kevin Durant’s weak dick exit memo on the Players’ Tribune on July 4th, not many, including me, thought we’d have an opportunity to be a part of something historically special like this. Many, again myself included, were working the Westbrook to Boston trade for Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder, and two first round picks. Thank god, Sam Presti and Russell Westbrook saw things in a different light.
What Oklahoma City is experiencing instead is perhaps history in the making as Russell Westbrook chases an NBA regular season MVP. In the history of the NBA–only three other players have started a season with two triple doubles in their first three games. They would be Magic Johnson, Jerry Lucas, and Oscar Robertson. I’m fairly certain the millennials won’t know who Jerry Lucas was or that he played for the NY Knicks so I’ll try and find a youtube suitable for the Daily Thunder youngsters/millenials.
LeBron James has 43 career triple doubles, Russell Westbrook now has 39. I wonder if he’ll demand Presti trade him to the Warriors at the deadline so he can win a ring. Just kidding…kind of.
In essence, Westbrook is one assist away in the Philly game from triple doubling all three games this week. What we’ve seen in each game was a slightly different nuance of Westbrook. Against Phoenix–it was pure Kobe audacity with 51 points on 44 shots. Tonight–it was Westbrook’s most efficient game of the season to date. 33-12-16 with an 11-21 night from the field. It was Westbrook at his best as the Thunder went from 13 assists in the Phoenix game to 29 helpers versus the Lakers tonight. The ball moved, it didn’t stick so much. Simple game. Jerry West and Kevin Durant would be proud.
My three stars would be 1 Westbrook, 2 Steven Adams, 3 tie Victor Oladipo and Enes Kanter.
Adams double doubled with 14 and 12. Kanter scored 16 points with an efficient 8-11 shooting night. Oladipo hit the 20 point plateau for the second straight game while continuing to show glimpses of what Thunder Nation hopes will come in more consistent incremental intervals as this season moves along.
So here the Thunder stand 3-0 one week into a young 82 game marathon of a season. None of the three wins came against a team which will be playing an 83rd game this basketball season, but it matters none. Because for the first time since July 4th there’s a sense of hope in the streets of Oklahoma City. A sense of renewed love for our Thunder. A sense of hope the basketball gods are going to right the crime which transpired on July 4th. Heck…I might even hang my Thunder flag out of my truck window this week. Seriously.
The schedule gets tougher in a big way this week with a road back to back against the Clippers and Durant’s Warriors. Two very tough games. Then a home Saturday game against the Timberwolves.
But there’s hope, love, and a sense of karma boomerang. The Thunder are still relevant and it’s all because of Russell Westbrook.
For the Daily Thunder millennials