Westbrook breaks out as Rockets rout Blazers, extend streak to eight

Russell Westbrook (28/13/10) had a breakout game as Houston (11-3) extended its winning streak to eight in Monday’s home win over Portland.

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If the Houston Rockets could win seven straight games without peak Russell Westbrook, just imagine what they might can do with the version that tallied 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists during Monday’s 132-108 home blowout (box score) over Portland (5-9).

It’s the eighth consecutive win for the Rockets (11-3), and their second in a row by 20+ points. Superstar guard James Harden scored a game-high 36 points on an extremely efficient 11-of-19 shooting perforance, while Clint Capela returned after a two-game medical absence and grabbed 20 rebounds for his fourth straight game.

Capela also contributed with four blocks, a season-high 22 points, and a team-leading plus/minus figure of +30 in his 35 minutes.

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But the Rockets had already become accustomed during this streak to peak performances from the likes of Capela and Harden, who might have a realistic chance to average 40 points per game.

Thus, it was the contributions from Westbrook that were most eye-opening and took Monday’s showing to a new level.

Consider the fact the Rockets had won seven straight with Westbrook — a former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and future Hall of Famer — not even playing that well, by his career standards.

Of those seven prior games, the 31-year-old sat out two for planned maintenance on back-to-backs. In the five he did play, Westbrook shot just 40.0% overall and 18.5% on three-pointers, and the 6-foot-3 guard best known for averaging a triple-double in three straight seasons had tallied just 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

In the game before the winning streak began — a humiliating 129-100 beatdown in Miami on Sunday, Nov. 3 — Westbrook had just 10 points (3-of-11 shooting), 6 assists, and 4 rebounds, along with a historically bad plus/minus of -46 in just 26 minutes.

That trend changed in a big way during Monday’s win, with Westbrook grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists in 34 minutes. He also made three shots from three-point range, and his defense helped limit Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (and Westbrook’s personal rival) to just 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

Westbrook still struggled at times with his jump shot at 9-of-26 (34.6%) overall and 3-of-11 (27.3%) on three-pointers, but he was much more aggressive than in recent games at attacking the basket. That can clearly be seen in his heightened assist and rebound totals.

In all, the slash line of 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists was Westbrook’s third triple-double as a member of the Rockets, and his first since the fourth game of the season back on Oct. 30.

It was an especially perfect time for Westbrook’s breakout performance of November, since it came on his first bobblehead night at Toyota Center with his new team.

The competition for Westbrook and the Rockets stiffens later this week, with road games looming at Denver and the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday and Friday, respectively. They’ll certainly need to play very well to extend their eight-game winning streak against a pair of perceived Western Conference contenders

Then again, perhaps the most impressive part of Houston’s current run is that it has largely taken place without Westbrook being in peak form. That’s why Monday’s blowout win over Portland — with Westbrook leading the way — was a reminder that the red-hot Rockets still have significant untapped potential.

In fact, the 24-point win over the Trail Blazers was reminiscent of something Westbrook himself said back at the team’s Media Day in late September about his new team with the Rockets.

“It’s going to be scary, that’s all I can tell you,” Westbrook said of his pairing with Harden in Houston. “It’s going to be scary. … Not for us.”

Just ask Lillard and the Trail Blazers.

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