Video: Russell Westbrook Threads The Needle During His Triple-Double

Thank God the whole OKC is better without Russ plot has turned as the Thunder rebounded from three straight losses at home to win their next three at home. We can’t handle a world without Russell Westbrook going full throttle, untethered by metaphorical leers of non-NBA fans armchair editorializing about what’s wrong with his game. Nothing is wrong with #WhyNot and his unbridled passion to play. We saw even more evidence of that as Russ helped OKC to their third straight win with a triple-double Tuesday night against Philly.

Quick tangent: Why doesn’t Russell Westbrook have a nickname other than his glorious hashtag? Durantula has like four now. We’ll get back to this at some point in the future because Russ deserves the best, most ebullient, gnarliest nickname our collective minds can come up with /tangent.

Why are we waxing poetic about Russ so much tonight? He was fantastic against the Sixers. Just look at the s**t he’s probably talking to Michael Carter-Williams in the pic above!

A fantastic sequence by the Thunder in the second quarter is a perfect example of what tickles us so much about Russell’s game. It all starts when Serge Ibaka blocks Thad Young from behind. The ball ricochets off the backboard and into the hands of Russ as our heart bounces up into our throats with a possible dash the other way. Russ saunters at a light jog up the court and see’s KD cutting on his right wing. His eyes get wide and without breaking stride he throws a bounce pass at a full sprint with his off-hand. The ball catches KD perfectly in step for the layup.

Even KD has a “Ooh” face running back up the court before giving Russ some DAP.

Plus, the sequence highlights how much the Thunder’s three best players really compliment each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

So let’s enjoy the dense, late 90’s rhymes of Company Flow as the backing soundtrack for Russell’s 13 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds Tuesday night in OKC’s 125-92 thrashing of the Sixers. Both the group and the player were misunderstood:

This was Westbrook’s eighth triple-double of his career and the fastest — it only took him 21 minutes — since 1955, according to Elias Sports. Russ even set a Thunder record with 11 dimes in the first half.

Oh yeah, and before we all give LeBron the MVP after he dropped 61 on the Bobcats, Durant had 42 points on 14-for-20 shooting against Philly. ‘Bron only managed 22 against the Rockets on Tuesday night.

(video via the estimable Oakley & Allen)

What’s a good nickname for Russ?

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