NBA scores 2017: Russell Westbrook is still a threat like we’ve never seen before

He posted his 29th triple-double, and his third one with 40 points. Averaging it for a year looks entirely possible.

Feb 27, 2017, 1:00 PM UTC

NBA: New Orleans Pelicans at Oklahoma City Thunder

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

We all thought Russell Westbrook would stop, right? That he would slow down? That the weight of an 82-game season would wear on him? That teammates wouldn’t hit as many shots, or rebounds wouldn’t come as easily?

I’m sure, of course, that some Westbrook fans must have been true believers, people who have been ready to edit the sentence on Oscar Robertson’s Wikipedia page that says he’s the “only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season” ever since it even looked possible Westbrook might do it. I was not. I always expected that Westbrook would come back to life to some small extent this season.

Well, damn. I think it’s time to say I was wrong.

Westbrook dropped his third 40-point triple-double of the season on Sunday, notching 41 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists plus nine turnovers that we’ll ignore for the moment. (His turnovers are another issue entirely that we don’t have nearly enough time to dive into.) He has 29 triple-doubles now, and it seems more likely that he’ll meet the requirements than not at this point.

His fourth quarter on Sunday was nuts, scoring 21 points as Oklahoma City fended off the Pelicans.

His huge showings in fourth quarters all season when he has been needed are an effective counterargument against anyone saying some of his stats are empty. Sure, Westbrook is the team’s designated ‘free throw rebounder,’ but that’s because Oklahoma City wants him taking off in the fast break as soon as possible. Westbrook shows up in clutch moments as often as he does normal ones, and the win helped push the Thunder up to a season-best nine games over .500. He’ll even dunk on people when the game gets tight.

See?

Players go careers without recording triple-doubles. Westbrook has 29 in a single year. If you didn’t expect this, don’t worry — no one could have. But as the Thunder keep winning, and when Oklahoma City is a better team with Westbrook triple-doubling, then no one can really say anything. This is how good he is, and this is what Westbrook does. We’re still a few weeks away, but all those Wikipedia entires about Oscar Robertson may be needing an edit before we know it.

The Pelicans are winless since the DeMarcus Cousins trade

New Orleans is 0-3 now since the trade deadline, and since they dealt for the NBA’s best big man to put next to the league’s other best big man. They lost by 30 points on Thursday, 13 on Saturday and eight on Sunday. If you’re really an optimistic, then they’ve technically improved with each game.

That argument doesn’t really hold up when the Pelicans are in a race for the playoffs and only have 22 games left.

The problem is pretty obvious: DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis combined for 69 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists while shooting 23-of-43 from the field. Only one other Pelican scored double figures (E’Twaun Moore with 10) and the rest of the team had 41 points combined on 13-of-37 shooting (35 percent).

Facing another team that has “no help” around Russell Westbrook, and is a “one-man team,” you really realize how desolate the Pelicans’ roster is now. They played three players on 10-day contracts this weekend out of necessity.

There are still signs of awkwardness even with the big two. Jrue Holiday had to awkwardly end a pick-and-roll with Anthony Davis because Cousins was occupying the space in the low block directly in their way. In another instance, with Davis out of the game, Cousins hung out as a wing shooter for an entire possession while New Orleans ended up with a mediocre shot attempt — simply a poor use of his talents all around.

This isn’t a referendum on the Pelicans. Those two alone can win the team games. An offseason putting shooters around them may help them even more. And the trade was one that needed to be made no matter what, given New Orleans’ direction of late and the price that Cousins could be had for.

Still, that playoff push we thought might happen isn’t going to if this team doesn’t turn it around fast. And with Cousins picking up another technical, barring it being rescinded, they won’t have him in the team’s next game.