“Before, [defenses] were just leaving the big man right at the lip of the rim,” D’Antoni said. “Now, they have a hard time doing that. So that’s way different. They double-team James, but when they double-team now, Russell has a free run to the basket.” The changes Westbrook made to his approach have been catalyzed in that momentum. His force moving toward the rim mimics that of the game’s most athletic bigs, like a fun-sized Zion Williamson. With no other option to maintain the basic shape of their defense, some opponents are beginning to treat Westbrook like a big, too. The Jazz have played the Rockets twice since they traded for Covington, and on both occasions assigned center Rudy Gobert—the reigning Defensive Player of the Year—to guard Westbrook by backing off of him and protecting the rim. In those two games, Westbrook scored 73 points on 32-of-59 (54 percent) shooting.