Video: Russell Westbrook is not Blake Griffin
Stalwart Oklahoma City Thunder blogger Royce Young wrote at Daily Thunder late Wednesday that this third-quarter attempt to annihilate Blake Griffin "was the most Russell Westbrook thing ever." The premise is sound. Trying to finish a fast break with an angry dunk, trying to assert authority and dominance against a Western Conference opponent, trying to upstage the league's most prolific on-your-head dunker and trying to avenge teammate Kendrick Perkins, whom Griffin grimly immortalized earlier this season ... these all seem like very Russell Westbrook things to do.
The execution, though? Taking off a couple of feet too far out, getting stoned by a heels-down-outside-the-charge-circle Griffin, falling way short on the non-dunk throwdown, getting whistled for an offensive foul and coming up empty on a three-on-two transition opportunity? That feels much more like the most JaVale McGee thing ever.
Then again, maybe that's the elusive missing element in Westbrook's game that we've all been trying to identify these past couple of years — a dash of JaVale to go in that Kevin Johnson-Allen Iverson-Dwyane Wade-Stephon Marbury mixture. This dunk attempt might have just unlocked the Russell genome. Let's all put on our labcoats and shake hands.
Hit the jump for more on Westbrook's Hall and Oates situation — I'm going to keep making that joke until you guys are singing Hall and Oates in your cubicles, I promise you — and the rest of Wednesday's top sports stories, thanks to our friends at the Yahoo! Sports Minute.
Westbrook didn't have a great offensive game in the Thunder's 114-91 home win over Griffin's Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-20 shooting, three rebounds, four assists and four turnovers. He did, however, do a dynamite defensive job on Clippers point guard Chris Paul, holding the All-Star starter to just 13 points on a 3-of-12 mark from the floor. Westbrook's teammate, Kevin Durant, led all scorers with 32 points on 18 shots, nine rebounds and five assists in the win.
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