There are no style points in this NBA. Every night is a different script per se. But on this night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena, the script was simple…Russell Westbrook took his team by the reigns and led them to a wire to wire 121-112 win over the Washington Wizards.
On this night, it was vintage Westbrook. It was MVP Westbrook. It was a Westbrook who despite not being an All-Star Starter this season..is one of the game’s top five players. Explain that to me, how one of the game’s top five players isn’t an All-Star starter? You can’t. The answer is simple–the All-Star game is a joke. That’s the answer.
Anyway, Westbrook scored a season high 46 points on a 19-29 shooting night. Twenty-one of his points came in the forth period as Rickey Vaughn went 9-11 shooting the basketball. But on this night, Westbrook wasn’t just the closer. More to the point, he was the starter, the middle reliever, and the closer.
Bradley Beal, a Sam Presti covet from way back to his Florida Gator days with Billy Donovan, had 41 points for the Wizards despite being kicked in the balls by Steven Adams. Go figure.
The win propels the Thunder to a season best 28-20 mark. It is the Thunder’s sixth straight win and keeps them in touch with Minnesota and San Antonio in the standings.
Paul George and Carmelo both had quiet nights going a combined 10-30 from the field. Steven Adams double doubled with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Ray Felton was solid. Jerami Grant looked better offensively going 3-4 from the field. Terrance Ferguson played 24 minutes and scored 11 points on a 3-6 night from beyond the arc. I thought it was Ferguson’s second best performance as a pro. The Alex Abrines experiment is over. Terrance Ferguson has become a piece of the rotation.
The Thunder move forward into January with an 8-3 mark. The six game win streak is the league’s current longest streak.
While LeBron and the Cavs seem on the verge of anarchy, Russell Westbrook is making his sales pitch to Paul George to become his permanent Thunder buddy. It’s a goofy league. Some of it makes no sense. But right now the Thunder are trending…and in the right direction.
The Thunder are in Detroit on Saturday for a 4:00pm start to play the struggling Pistons.
LET’S GO THUNDER!