Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook Says His Job Is To Attack And Score
Thunder's Russell Westbrook Says His Job Is To Attack And Score And People Complain Only When They Lose.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook claimed that people are raising issues about his perceived lack of passing only when they lose. But never when they are getting the victories or on a winning streak.
"My job is to stay in attack mode and try and score and try to make plays happen," Westbrook was quoted by espn.go.com following the Thunder's 101-99 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Westbrook noted that when they won eight in a row, nobody complained about him not passing or taking too many shots. In the Pelicans game, he finished with 29 points on 10-of-27 shooting with eight assists but went 0-of-6 with a turnover in the final 3:45. Westbrook also took eight of the Thunder's 11 shots. He also stopped disshing out assists after 3:59 left in the third quarter. Surely, the routine of the Thunder going to Westbrook for the final shot has become predictable.
"We knew he was going to get the ball and they were going to go to him every time," Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans was also quoted in the same article. The loss to the Pelicans pulled the Thunder down to 13-15 and 1½ games out of eighth place in the Western Conference. The Thunder were without Westbrook or Kevin Durant early in the season, but have won 10 of their past 13 games with the duo in the lineup.
Nonetheless, with the way Westbrook has been delivering placed him in the running for this year's MVP award and for the the stature of being the NBA's best point guard.
Among point guards, Westbrook ranked first in scoring with 27.4 points per game, fifth in rebounding with 5.5, seventh in steals with 1.9, 11th in assists with 7.2 and second in player efficiency rating with 32.3. What's more impresive is that he posted these numbers while logging in just 31.2 minutes per game and having to share the ball with four-time scoring champion Durant in nine of his 14 games.
His three-point shooting has taken a slightly down to 29.2 percent but he's shooting percentage is at 46.2 percent. Westbrook also ranked fourth in defense with a rating of 101 and held opposing point guards to 31 percent shooting.
Thunders center Kendrick Perkins said that with the way Westbrook is performing, he is the best in the league for him today, per Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman.
