Russell Westbrook leads the Oklahoma City Thunder to a major victory over Atlanta Hawks. He’ll make it through the 100. Triple-double of his career. Dennis Schröder returns after surviving injury.
If you are called Russell Westbrook, a back-to-back game on someone else’s parquet is absolutely no reason to take things easy in any way. On the contrary: With 32 points (12/20 FG), 12 rebounds and 12 assists he achieved the 100th place. Triple-double of his career – before him, only Jason Kidd, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson had succeeded. What a milestone!
“My motto is to play as hard as I can every night. This is something I am proud of,”said Russ afterwards,”I thank God and the people of Oklahoma City. You gave me the opportunity to play at this level.”
Against the Eastern Conference’s taillight, however, it was by no means the case that the victory for OKC was an automatic runner-up and that it did not need the numbers of Russ: the Hawks held out for a long time, and Taurean Prince even equalled the game at 105:105 five minutes before the end.
However, a look at the final score now reveals that there were not many points left on the part of the hosts. Because the Thunders turned up again and put a 16:0 run on the floor, which provided for the expected clear conditions.
In addition to Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony was also in a good mood with 21 points. Jerami Grant hung up 20 points from the bank. In the absence of Steven Adams (hip bruising) he was allowed to take 30 minutes.
On the other side, Dennis Schröder returned after missing a game with a slight elbow injury. He scored 18 points (6/16 FG) and 8 assists, Prince scored 25 points. Damion Lee caused a stir in his first NBA game after receiving a ten-day contract from the Hawks. The 25-year-old shooting guard scored 13 points.