It was easy to dismiss the Denver Nuggets signing Russell Westbrook to a minimum contract over the offseason as a desperate move from a cheap team. The organization had already lost a key starter from its 2023 championship squad in free agency when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signed with the Orlando Magic. As Denver continued to bleed talent from its title team, Westbrook was brought on board for his sixth team in seven years at the request of superstar Nikola Jokic.
Russell Westbrook warned Clippers center to box him out, then grabbed putback over him
Russell Westbrook still has that dog in him, and this rebound proved it.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Westbrook has been fantastic in his role through the start of this season, and he came up big again for the Nuggets with Jokic out with an illness on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Nuggets beat the Clippers, 126-103, to keep pace in the Western Conference Playoff race. Westbrook packed the box score once again to finish with 19 points, eight assists, and six rebounds on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor, while finishing as a +18 in his 29 minutes of action. Beyond the numbers, Westbrook’s intensity also gave his team an emotion lift.
During the first quarter, Westbrook found himself on the blocks next to Clippers center Ivica Zubac during teammate DeAndre Jordan’s free throw. Jordan is a career 47.5 percent free throw shooter, so Westbrook could sense a miss was coming. Westbrook barked “you better box out” to Zubac. When Jordan missed the free throw, Westbrook beat Zubac to rebounding position, and got the putback for two points. Watch the play here:
What an amazing play by Westbrook. Even at age-36, he’s still full of the bravado and athleticism that once made him MVP.
The Nuggets are 11-4 with Westbrook as a starter this season. It has felt all year like Jokic has to do everything himself to give the Nuggets as a chance to win thanks to all the talent drain around him, but Westbrook really has been a key piece to keep Denver afloat. His resurgence has been one of the more subtle joys of his NBA season.
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