Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder overpower Los Angeles Clippers
OKLAHOMA CITY — It can easily be said that this year is all about the triple-double for Russell Westbrook. Every night the Oklahoma City point guard takes the court, the league is on triple-double alert.
So it is no surprise that on the final day of 2016, Westbrook posted his 16th triple-double of the season to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 114-88 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Westbrook posted 17 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds. He actually hit the triple-double mark in less than 20 minutes in the first half. He is two triple-doubles away from matching his total from all of last season.
“It’s a blessing man,” Westbrook said. “My teammates do a great job of making it easy for me. My job is to keep the pace high and keeping reading the game. The game will tell you what to do and that’s what I do.”
Enes Kanter came off the bench to lead the Thunder in scoring with 23 points on 6 of 13 shooting. Victor Oladipo added 15 points while Alex Abrines added 12 points before being leaving the game late in the third quarter with concussion-like symptoms.
The Thunder (21-13) improved to 8-1 on New Year’s Eve.
Brandon Bass had 18 points and Marreese Speights added 18 off the bench. Austin Rivers was the only starter to reach double figures with 14.
The Clippers (22-14), playing on the second half of a back-to-back, lost their sixth straight game.
“You can lose your spirit in this and we haven’t done that,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “My job is to get us through this. This is a heavy hit for us. We’re losing games, we’re dropping placings. It’s all good. At the end the day, we have to get…