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Toward the end of the fourth quarter, one of the NBA’s sideline commentators remarked, “In the last five games Russell has gone mad.” And that is correct, 100 per cent correct.
Love him or hate him it is hard to ignore Russell Westbrook at the moment.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s starting point guard has been phenomenal, averaging an incredible 10.25 rebounds, 10.75 assists and 34.88 points in the last eight games following the All Star break (according to Yahoo Sports).
His form has been so impressive that the NBA’s statistics gurus have drawn comparisons with basketball’s best and most iconic player – Michael Jordan.
To put things into perspective, Westbrook’s four triple-doubles in a row (all in points, rebounds and assists) is the most triple-doubles that anyone has logged consecutively since a young MJ notched seven in a row during the 1989 season.
In 11 years in the NBA, Lebron James has recorded a total of 36 – the most of any active player.
While the streak was broken on March 6, during Oklahoma’s loss to the Chicago Bulls, Russ still managed to score a phenomenal 43 points, as well as take eight rebounds as well as dish out seven assists. While it might not be a fifth consecutive triple, it is still an out-of-this-world performance.
Historically Russ’ league-leading six triple-doubles is not even close to Oscar Robertson’s record of 41 in one season (1961-62). What is incredible however, is that he has done it with a broken face.
The common perception regarding this year’s MVP race focuses on a four-man field consisting of Westbrook, Lebron, James Harden and Stephen Curry.
Incredibly, Russ tops all major categories across the four – averaging 27 points, 8.2 assists and 7 rebounds for the season. With his most recent basketball blitz he has also overtaken Harden as the league’s top point-scorer, and is tied first with Curry for the highest average steals per game at 2.1.
Not only his but his PIE (performance impact estimate) percentage also tops the four, at 19.2. This means that of all plays undertaken by his team, Russ had a positive involvement in just under one fifth of them.
Pretty impressive given that he’s averaging only 33.1 minutes per game.
However, according to Bleacher Report, and despite all of his end of season fireworks, Westbrook will not take the NBA’s highest individual honour.
Predominantly this is because he missed 14 games early in the season following a fracture to his metacarpal in his right hand. Unfortunately for Russ, at this point both Harden and Curry were demolishing all that came before them.
On top of this, OKC have not been performing well, at only a few games over .500. Yes, Kevin Durant has been on the sidelines for most of the season, which makes a material difference to play-off chances, but even with Russ back the Thunder have been disappointing.
Significantly, despite his exceptional form of late, the Thunder are 3-5 since the All Star break, with Russ recording a very poor rating of -28 against a weak Philadelphia 76ers side. Unfortunately for Westbrook, statistics like these do not lead to MVP selection and rarely do MVPs come from teams that only just scrape into the top eight.
As a result, some have argued that Westbrook’s huge numbers are partially a result of a selfish mentality that sees him hold the ball for the majority of the time he is on the court. Moreover, while he is putting up career-defining numbers, he has drawn criticism for not involving current MVP and scoring machine Durant as much as he should (when he has been available).
Because of this Westbrook will most likely have to continue to notch triple-double after triple-double to counter games missed through injury and take home the 2014-15 MVP.
If anyone can do it though, it’s Russ.
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