Once again, Oklahoma City Thunder star guard Russell Westbrook finds himself in Hall of Fame company with his latest triple-double feat.
Westbrook notched 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists on Monday against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers to secure his 10th straight game with a triple-double in the Thunder’s 120-111 win. By reaching 10 straight, he breaks the single-season mark for consecutive triple-doubles he had tied with Wilt Chamberlain, who had nine straight in 1968.
Not only did Westbrook set that record in this game, but he and teammate Paul George combined for one as well. George had 47 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists — his first triple-double since the 2013-14 season — as he and Westbrook became the first teammates to record 20-point triple-doubles in the same game.
Here’s a look at each of Westbrook’s triple-double stat lines during the streak:
- Date | Opponent | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Result
- Jan. 22 | vs. Blazers | 29 | 10 | 14 | 123-114 win
- Jan. 24 | vs. Pelicans | 23 | 17 | 16 | 122-116 win
- Jan. 27 | vs. Bucks | 13 | 13 | 11 | 118-112 win
- Jan. 29 | at Magic | 23 | 14 | 14 | 126-117 win
- Feb. 1 | at Heat | 14 | 12 | 14 | 118-102 win
- Feb. 3 | at Celtics | 22 | 12 | 16 | 134-129 loss
- Feb. 5 | vs. Magic | 16 | 15 | 16 | 132-122 win
- Feb. 7 | vs. Grizzlies | 15 | 13 | 15 | 117-95 win
- Feb. 9 | vs. Rockets | 21 | 12 | 11 | 117-112 win
- Feb. 11 | vs. Blazers | 21 | 14 | 11 | 120-111 win
After the game, Westbrook downplayed his latest feat.
“I just go play the game the right way,” he said. “It’s what I do. Go out and compete every night and leave it on the floor, and whatever happens, happens. I’m very, very blessed to be able to go out and play, and I don’t take it for granted.”
Westbrook clinched the record on an assist to George for a 3-pointer with 3:52 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“I thought he had it already,” George joked after Monday’s win. “Usually, Russ has that by the first quarter. I didn’t know it was that close.”
Westbrook made a 3-pointer in the final minute that gave George his triple-double. Westbrook told George that he was one assist away.
“Yeah, we talked about it right before that play,” George said. “We talked about it. I was clueless at that moment. But he told me the situation. So, it’s cool to be on the other end of the triple-double.”
Westbrook figured he might as well get a different kind of assist.
“It’s amazing to go out and compete,” he said, “to see your teammate, your brother, do amazing things, and you can be right on the side of him doing something special as well.”
This isn’t the only triple-double feat Westbrook has accomplished this season, though. In a win against the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 5, he collected his 108th career triple-double, passing Jason Kidd for third on the all-time list. His triple-double on Feb. 5 was his seventh straight in the current run, making him the first player since Michael Jordan during the 1988-89 season to reach that number. The only other players in NBA history with a streak as long are Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.
Last season, in a March 13 win in Atlanta, he recorded his 100th career triple-double. He became the third-fastest player to 100 (736 games), trailing only Robertson (277 games) and Magic Johnson (656). Of the other 29 NBA franchises, 24 have fewer triple-doubles in their entire team history than the 126 that Westbrook has logged in his career. Since he entered the league in 2008, he holds more than twice as many as any other NBA franchise during that timeframe (the Cleveland Cavaliers have 48).
Oklahoma City has gone 17-6 this season when Westbrook registers a triple-double and holds a 103-24 (.811) record over the course of his career. Westbrook finished 2017 with 38 triple-doubles, the most in a calendar year in NBA history ahead of Robertson’s 34 in 1961, beating his previous record of 31 from 2016 (per Elias Sports Bureau).
On the final night of last season, Westbrook became the first player to average a triple-double in back-to-back seasons. He got that achievement by snaring rebound No. 16 with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies in OKC’s final game of the season. A standing ovation ensued and Westbrook finished with just six points, but had a career-high 20 rebounds and 19 assists.
His first triple-double season — in 2016-17 — culminated with Westbrook winning Kia MVP honors. Westbrook finished 2016-17 averaging 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists. That made him the first player to average a triple-double for a season since the Hall of Famer Robertson accomplished the feat in 1961-62.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
