Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook on Tuesday became only the second player after Wilt Chamberlain to score a “20-20-20” triple-double — and dedicated his achievement to slain rapper Nipsey Hussle.
Westbrook posted a remarkable 20 points, 20 rebounds and 21 assists in the Thunder’s 119-103 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, matching Chamberlain’s feat in 1968.
However, he was emotional afterward as he paid tribute to Hussle, a fellow southern California native who was gunned down in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Photo: AP
“That wasn’t for me,” Westbrook told TNT. “That was for my bro. That’s for Nipsey”
Westbrook, holder of the record for most triple-doubles in a season with 42, was already closing in on a third straight season averaging a triple-double.
“It’s huge, man,” he told reporters. “I’m not gonna try to put it into words, but like I said on the floor, man, that’s who it’s for, and I’m going to leave it at that.”
Playoff-bound, but losers of seven of their past 10, the Thunder are locked in combat for the seventh seed with the San Antonio Spurs, who beat the Atlanta Hawks 117-111 on Tuesday.
Both teams own records of 45-33, with the Spurs holding the tiebreak advantage and the eighth seed destined to take on the No. 1 seed in the first round.
The Golden State Warriors went some way to ensuring that the top seed would belong to them with a 116-102 victory over the second-ranked Denver Nuggets.
“We handled our business,” said Golden State star Stephen Curry, who finished with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists. “We did what we were supposed to do — protect our home court.”
The Warriors also own the tiebreaker, thanks to winning three of four against the Nuggets in the regular season.
DeMarcus Cousins paced the Warriors with a season-best 28 points.
Kevin Durant added 21 points before he was ejected in the third quarter after receiving two quick technical fouls.
Durant was incensed at the lack of a foul call on a missed three-point attempt. His 14th and 15th technical fouls of the season mean he is one away from an automatic one-game suspension.
“I thought he deserved the first technical, I didn’t think he deserved the second,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I was very surprised... but, you know, we move on.”
Elsewhere in the West, James Harden scored 36 points to lead the playoff-bound Houston Rockets to a 130-105 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
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