Russell Westbrook stepped up on Wednesday night, putting in a triple-double to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat 120-117 after overtime.
Westbrook continues showing progress over the last few games. The 2017 NBA MVP scored 25 points against Miami, adding 14 assists and 12 rebounds. Above all, the 32-year-old guard made a number of key plays toward the end of the game as the Lakers were scrambling to reduce the Heat’s lead.
“He played well tonight,” Anthony Davis said, summing up Westbrook’s night.
“One thing about Russ, he has no conscience. He can miss 20 in a row and he’s gonna shoot the next one. Two big-time shots, he’s fearless, relentless. Then also his ability to see the floor. We had a conversation about what he wants to see from us so we can help him cut down the turnovers and we talked about it and it showed tonight.”
It wasn’t a 10-out-of-10 performance from Westbrook, though. He shot just 45.5% from the field — ending the night 10-of-22 — and committed eight turnovers.
“I say that and he had eight [laughs], what did he have, a triple-double? At least it wasn’t a quadruple-double [laughs],” Davis quipped.
Nevertheless, the 28-year-old All-Star acknowledged Westbrook’s role in the Lakers’ win over the Heat.
“[W]e just want to be sure that we help him as much as possible and be in the right positions for him when he’s attacking the paint knowing that he’s going to get there but like I said, he was feeling it and he made some big-time plays for us to get this win.”
Westbrook highlights team effort in victory over Miami
Malik Monk joined Westbrook as the Lakers offense’s co-orchestrator, scoring a game-high 27 points against Miami. Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony and Wayne Ellington put in solid shifts themselves, chipping in 12 points each.
Westbrook said the Lakers’ collective effort shows the team starts realizing the roster’s potential.
“Gives us character,” Westbrook said, asked what the nature of the victory meant. “Puts us in the right state of mind, spirit. In the right state of mind because we know we got enough in this locker room.
“Even with so many guys out that we definitely need, but we know we have enough to be able to maintain and be able to keep our head afloat and make sure we’re playing the right way. We got guys that can get hot on our team. Shooters that can change a game in Malik [Monk], Wayne [Ellington], and kind of everybody did that tonight.”
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