In Saturday’s 139-109 blowout win (box score) at home over Minnesota, Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook continued his strong play of late with 30 points (43.5% shooting) and 10 assists in 33 minutes.
Westbrook has now scored 20 or more points in his last 14 games. Excluding James Harden, that’s the longest such streak for the Rockets since Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon did it 24 years ago in the 1995-96 season. Not even the likes of Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming posted those types of scoring numbers with that level of consistency.
Best of all, Westbrook’s numbers are contributing to wins for the team. Houston is 11-3 (.786) over that 14-game stretch, which would translate to a pace of more than 64 wins over a full NBA season.
Russell Westbrook scored 20+ points in each of his past 14 games (tied for longest streak by a Rocket besides Harden since 16 games by Olajuwon near end of 1995-96) (per HOU PR).
— Hunter Atkins (@HunterAtkins35) January 12, 2020
“I thought Russell, the whole, game, was really good at attacking and all that,” coach Mike D’Antoni said postgame. For the season, Westbrook is now averaging 24.6 points per game — which is six points better than the prior top scorer (2017-18 Chris Paul) of Harden’s eight years in Houston.
The Rockets (26-12) have now won four of their last five games overall.
#Rockets beat the Timberwolves 139-109
MDA talked the win and gave and update on PJ Tucker who left the game in the 1st Quarter with a Right Shoulder Stinger@HoustonRockets I #OneMission pic.twitter.com/0Ocw3A6IJ4
— AT&T SportsNet SW (@ATTSportsNetSW) January 12, 2020
The Rockets have an even better winning percentage when Westbrook has double-digit assists. Including Saturday, the Rockets are now 7-1 (.875) when the former MVP has 10 or more assists.
“It’s important,” Westbrook said postgame when asked about generating open shots for teammates. “It’s part of my job to make sure I create those opportunities for my teammates by attacking the basket.”
#Rockets are now 7-1 in games where Russell Westbrook has 10+ assists. Small sample, but that’s a 72-win pace. #OneMission
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) January 12, 2020
After being traded to Houston last July, the eight-time All-Star is getting better acclimated to his new team as the 2019-20 season moves along.
In Westbrook’s first 19 games with the Rockets, he averaged 21.9 points on 41.0% shooting, 22.9% from 3-point range, and 73.2% on free throws.
Over this current 14-game stretch, Westbrook is scoring 28.4 points on 46.8% shooting, 25.9% on 3-pointers, and 85.9% from the free-throw line. He’s scored 30 or more points in seven of his last 13 games, after not doing it a single time in his first 20 outings.
In his postgame comments Saturday, Westbrook spoke at much more length on the team’s performance than he did his individual statistics.
Regarding the win, Westbrook said:
It definitely feels good. It’s something we know we’re capable of doing every night. That’s a challenge. The best teams do it. We got to challenge ourselves to do it night in and night out.
Russell Westbrook on getting a blowout victory: "It definitely feels good. It's something we know we're capable of doing every night. That's a challenge. The best teams do it. We got to challenge ourselves to do it night in and night out." pic.twitter.com/48LEOSnZhm
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) January 12, 2020
Since the Rockets have back-to-back games coming up, Westbrook is likely to miss one of the team’s next two — either at Memphis on Tuesday night, or home against Portland on Wednesday. That’s part of Houston’s maintenance plan for the 31-year-old after offseason knee surgery.
The team has yet to specify which game of the two that Westbrook will sit out. But in the games that he’s on the floor, it’s clear that Westbrook is becoming more comfortable in D’Antoni’s offense and giving the Rockets a greater chance to win at the same time.
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