Russell Westbrook had the best game of his brief Nuggets career on Wednesday night, filling in for Jamal Murray in the starting lineup. In 32 minutes, Russ had 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists while shooting 10/15 from the floor and 3/4 from three.
He also provided energy when the team needed it and helped pull the Nuggets out of a 16-point second-half hole as the Nuggets got their best win of the year, beating the previously unbeaten Oklahoma City Thunder, 124-122.
Russ has never been one to hide his confidence, and he was clearly feeling himself after the big win. In his on-court, postgame interview with Vic Lombardi of Altitude TV, Westbrook stated about the Thunder, “Right now they got the best record, but I feel like we got the better team and tonight we showed that”.
“Right now they got the best record, but I feel like we got the better team”
— AltitudeTV (@AltitudeTV) November 7, 2024
Russell Westbrook postgame interview with Vic Lombardi ⬇️#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/AFb8nLaVVT
Generally speaking, I’m not one to poke the bear and I don’t love the idea of giving the Thunder bulletin board material after their first loss of the season. But this is who Russ is and that is never going to change. When the Nuggets signed up for the Westbrook experience, they had to know that they would be getting the entire Westbrook experience.
Nuggets fans need to embrace highs and lows of Westbrook experience
Sometimes that experience is a two-game stretch of shooting 2-18 from the floor, and sometimes it's 29/6/6 in a huge win over the Thunder. The Westbrook experience also comes with a guy who has never been afraid to speak his mind and is not afraid to ruffle feathers. He wasn’t trying to send a message or take a shot at the Thunder.
He was trying to hype up his young teammates and express how happy he is to be playing a meaningful role on a team with championship pedigree. Say what you will about Russ - and I’ve been a major skeptic - but he brings an undeniable energy and veteran leadership to this team that simply wasn’t there before.
At this point, you just have to let Russ be Russ and embrace everything that comes along with that. There’s nothing wrong with a healthy confidence and Russ’ vibes seem to be infectious. As for the claim itself, it remains to be seen if the Nuggets are the better team.
The Thunder are still the standard in the Western Conference we saw them come into Denver a couple of weeks ago and stick it to the Nuggets. But the Nuggets needed a win like this. Even if they can’t channel it every night it’s good to see this team can still get to that level against the best teams in the league.