Russell Westbrook was two assists shy of setting an NBA record for most triple doubles in a single season when the Phoenix Suns did something awful: They intentionally fouled him.
The Suns did everything they could to prevent Russell Westbrook’s record-breaking triple double
Westbrook checked himself out of the game after he was intentionally fouled with less than three minutes to go.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Westbrook’s sixth assist in the third quarter of the Thunder’s loss to the Suns on Friday was No. 820 of the year. The dime moved him next to Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average a triple double for a season. He also joined Robertson and Nate “Tiny” Archibald as the only players in league history to average 30 points and 10 assists for a season.
But Westbrook struggled to get his next two assists in the fourth quarter and was hellbent to record assists nine and 10 in the game’s final two minutes. That’s when the Suns intentionally fouled the Thunder guard to send him to the free throw line.
After he drilled the two foul shots, Westbrook intentionally fouled and checked himself out of the game.
But this was the same Phoenix team that did everything to get Devin Booker 70 points
Booker got up 40 shots in 45 minutes to score his 70 points in a March 25 loss to the Boston Celtics. Phoenix called multiple timeouts and intentionally fouled late in the fourth quarter to get the ball back, so Booker could continue jacking shots up.
The Celtics, who were up handily, could have double or triple-teamed the Suns guard to stop him from scoring.
Instead, they let him run up his stat sheet to become just the sixth player in NBA history to score at least 70 points. Phoenix neglected to show the same history-breaking courtesy it was extended less than a month ago.
In doing so, the Suns robbed their fans, who cheered Westbrook on and chanted M-V-P every time he went to the line. Booker quieted his own crowd by yelling “This is my f—— house!” as he scored 37 points on 13-of-29 shooting.
After Booker scored 70 points, Suns coach Earl Watson said if other teams didn’t like how he got his guard into NBA history, then “do something about it.”
He took the same approach to stop Westbrook from picking up those last two assists.
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