Russell Westbrook hails Thunder effort after dominant Trail Blazers win
RUSSELL WESTBROOK claims the Oklahoma City Thunder "took care of business” as they beat the Portland Trail Blazers 123-114.
The 30-year-old put in an fantastic performance scoring 29 points, which included a pair of powerful dunks to close out the game that were met with rapturous applause.
Westbrook also notched up 10 rebounds and 14 assists in front of the home crowd at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
After recording his 14th triple-double of the season Westbrook expressed the significance of this win.
“Very important,” he said.
We came here tonight and took care of business
“It’s a tough team.
“They are coming off a good win in Utah.
“And we came here tonight and took care of business.”
The win not only saw Oklahoma City surpass Portland in the Western Conference, it also gave them a 2-0 advantage in the season series between the teams, with two meetings still remaining.
"I got hops" - @russwest44 #ThunderUp
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 23, 2019
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Thunder team-mate Paul George led the scoring with 36 points as Oklahoma City extended their winning streak to three games, while in the process ending the Trail Blazers' three-game winning streak.
In a night that saw six Thunder players rack up double figures in scoring, Westbrook talked about the significance of them working as a unit.
“It’s very important to get everybody involved,” he said in his walk-off interview.
“We have so many guys on the team who are talented.
“It starts with myself getting everybody involved and making sure everybody is contributing to the game.”
The Thunder finished the game shooting 50.6 percent from the floor and went 11 of 23 from three-point range.
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— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 23, 2019
What's gotten into @russwest44 ?????? pic.twitter.com/SPK8zWNa47
Oklahoma City have vastly improved their shooting from behind the arc in recent games and are now averaging 41.8 percent in their last seven outings.
Prior to that, the Thunder were shooting just 32.3 percent from down-town.
Thunder coach Billy Donovan expressed how pleased he was with his players' performances.
“I thought our guys gave a great effort,” Donovan said.
“I thought our attention to details, doing all the little things, was very, very good.”
Next up for the Thunder, who are now 29-18, will be the New Orleans Pelicans in Oklahoma on Thursday.