Russell Westbrook has always been a triple-double machine.
He’s second in NBA history with 146 triple-doubles, his most recent a 32-point, 12-assist, 11-rebound outing in a loss 112-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 20.
That particular triple-double was historic, as logging a triple-double against his former squad gave him one against every team in the league. Westbrook is just the second player in NBA history to achieve that stat, along with Lakers star LeBron James.
Westbrook averaged a triple-double in his final three seasons in Oklahoma City, and during a stretch of time in March 2018, the former Thunder point guard dropped five triple-doubles in a row.
The fifth and final of those triple-doubles came on this date, March 18, 2018, in a wild win over the Toronto Raptors.
In that game, Westbrook went off for 37 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists as the Thunder snapped the Raptors’ 11-game winning streak with a 132-125 win.
That too was a historic performance for Westbrook.
Per StatMuse, Westbrook went for 37/13/14 on 68.2% shooting, a stat line that no player had had against the Raptors in 30 years.
Russell Westbrook with 37/13/14 on 68.2% shooting today.
No other player in the last 30 seasons have had that stat line. pic.twitter.com/GKTldrNoBe
— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 18, 2018
Westbrook’s numbers weren’t the only source of fireworks that night as former Thunder forward, Serge Ibaka, DeMar DeRozan, and Raptors coach, Dwayne Casey, were all ejected in the final minute.
That was the sixth win in a row for the Thunder, although they went 5-5 over the final 10 games of the season before falling to the Utah Jazz in the opening round of the playoffs.