Westbrook dances like no one’s watching, leads OKC past Nuggets
Sunday’s meeting between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets offered a reminder of one of the cardinal rules of understanding and appreciating the eccentricities of Russell Westbrook. You can dress like this and dance like this:
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… when you can also pass like this:
… and finish like this:
I mean, when you’ve got moves like that on the court, why the heck wouldn’t you showcase them off it (with an assist from rookie teammate Cameron Payne)?
Westbrook scored a game-high 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting with 12 assists, nine rebounds and a steal in 38 minutes of work to help Oklahoma City bounce back from its Christmas Day loss with a 122-112 win over the Nuggets on Sunday. The live-wire All-Star point guard helped key a 15-5 third-quarter run that got OKC back within shouting distance after falling behind by 11 points shortly after intermission.
With plenty of aid from All-Star running buddy Kevin Durant (26 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and a block in 39 minutes) and high-scoring sixth man Enes Kanter (21 points on 7-for-8 shooting and eight rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench), the Thunder took control midway through the fourth and ran away late, winning their fourth game in five tries to improve to 10-3 in December and 21-10 overall.
After the game, head coach Billy Donovan attributed OKC’s comeback largely to its defensive work during a fourth quarter in which Denver shot just 8-for-20 from the floor, generated only four free throws and committed three turnovers that turned into five Thunder points. Westbrook, as you might expect, turned his attention to an offense that produced 31 points on 21 shots and two separate 11-2 runs to ice the proceedings.
“We had a good pace and we played a lot faster,” he said, according to Erik Horne of The Oklahoman. “When we play like that it makes it harder for other teams to guard us.”
As if it wasn’t tough enough already to keep up with moves like that pre-game “Hit Dem Folks” and the post-dunk homage to John Wallace in “He Got Game”:
We can’t wait to see what other moves Russ has in store when Oklahoma City welcomes the Milwaukee Bucks to Chesapeake Energy Arena on Tuesday night. One request: maybe hit ’em with the Sprinkler? It’s certainly never failed me when it’s time to shut down the party.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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