Russell Westbrook is a triple-double in human form

Russell Westbrook has four straight triple-doubles. The Oklahoma City Thunder have four straight wins. This is not a coincidence. The Thunder beat the Toronto Raptors by 21 at Air Canada on Thursday -- no small feat -- and moved to within a half-game of the No. 5 seed in the West as the L.A. Clippers continue to slip. This victory included a 45-foot nutmeg in full stride from Russell. Seriously, man.

This was triple-double No. 34 in 68 games for Russ. The Thunder are 28-6 when Westbrook hits the marks and 11-23 when he does not. Triple-doubles do, in this case, matter. Westbrook is currently on track to match Oscar Robertson’s all-time record of 41 triple-doubles in a season -- Westbrook needs seven more in 14 games. Considering the No. 5 seed could mean facing Utah instead of James Harden and the Rockets, there’s a good chance Westbrook will go hard in all 14 games left.

What about the MVP race? Stephen Curry recently endorsed James Harden. Asked about that, Westbrook said he doesn’t care, adding “Who’s he?” (Not a voter, that’s for sure.) Westbrook doesn’t need Curry’s endorsement anyway: he has this excellent campaign spot from Enes Kanter and Steven Adams.

UTA 83, CLE 91
OKC 123, TOR 102
BKN 121, NYK 110
MEM 103, ATL 91
LAC 114, DEN 129
ORL 92, GSW 122

Mike Prada, who is crazy, made a 68-player 1-on-1 bracket from NBA players. I can’t believe he picked [REDACTED] to make the Final Four ...

Perhaps in response to the Lakers’ open decision to tank out, the Suns shut down Eric Bledsoe for the season. The coach called it a “management decision.” Bledsoe seems displeased. (He is having a wonderful season. All-NBA is too competitive this year for him to have had a chance, but still.)

Unless the Pelicans do something weird in the next couple of weeks, this appears to be the first season in 46 years without a head coach being fired in-season.

Dwyane Wade broke his elbow and is out for the rest of the season. What little intrigue there was about the Bulls making the playoffs and potentially facing the Cavaliers has magically disappeared.

Michael Lee visits Waiters Island.

Sam Amick asked NBA executives if LaVar Ball would scare teams away from drafting his son Lonzo. The answer is no.

Reminder: many big-name NBA prospects are playing in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Tim Cato tells the heartbreaking story of how Toronto won and lost free pizza.

The Jazz want Rudy Gobert to be their version of Bill Russell.

Don’t look now but Skal Labissiere might be the most exciting 2016 NBA Draft product playing at this point.

And finally: Quincy Acy thought his coach was coming over to sub him in. Actually, Kenny Atkinson just wanted a cup of water. Welp.