The Thunder were putting the finishing touches on 112-101 Game 2 win over the Clippers Wednesday night when the OKC scorekeeper decided to say, “Oh what the hell, lets give Russ his triple-double.” At the time, Russell Westbrook had 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, but his pass to Thabo Sefolosha with a 1:30 remaining was somehow counted as a dime. As you’ll see, it was a spectacularly cheap way to give him the final dish he needed for a triple-double.
Russ threw a cross-court pass to Thabo in the near corner, and if Sefolosha had shot it right away and hit a 3-pointer, than we have no qualms with the assist Russ was awarded. But Thabo wrangled with Willie Green for the ball and positioning before scooting by him on the baseline for a couple dribbles and the layup. This is no assist, even by the relatively loose definition of the term these days in the NBA.
As such, Russ should be like Kevin Durant, who also played a great game, but did not, technically, have a triple-double:
KD had 32 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists after a scorching opening session.
(H/T reddit)
Explain how this can be counted as an assist?
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