Russell Westbrook, Dime #43
It doesn’t matter if it took two extra overtimes, seeing a game end up with 289 points is crazy. Kevin Love channeled his recent anger to go berserk for a career-high 51 points, and yet the Thunder dominated the final overtime. Russell Westbrook scored the first points there and ultimately led OKC to a nine-point win with 45 points. Kevin Durant chipped in with 40 points and 17 rebounds, but as well as the Thunder’s big-name players balled, the rest of the team was non-existant. James Harden did his thing as well, but where was everybody else? They were busy making J.J. Barea (25 points, 14 assists) look like something other than a pretty good backup … Elton Brand scored 20 points to lead Philly to a huge divisional win over Boston, 99-86. Rajon Rondo had another one of those weird stat lines he’s famous for with three baskets and 17 assists … Behind Danny Green (18 points) of all people, San Antonio barbequed Dallas by 17 … Paul George has to be kicking himself in the foot today. He missed a free throw and then missed a layup that could’ve tied it in the finals seconds of Indiana’s 113-111 loss against the surging Suns. Danny Granger had 28, but it didn’t matter because no one on Indiana could stop Steve Nash. Darren Collison could’ve used some of his wizard skills – earlier this week, Roy Hibbert made the hilarious suggestion that DC was like a wizard because he just appeared at random times – because Nash went to work. The old vet had 17 assists and was playing the Pacers like a puppeteer. He was so dominant he even helped Marcin Gortat to wake up from his slumber to score 23 with eight rebounds … Doesn’t it seem like New York and Toronto are scheduled at least once a week? They played again last night, and this time, the Raptors hung a convincing L on New York’s forehead. The Knicks five-game winning streak under Mike Woodson was put to bed because they couldn’t stop DeMar DeRozan (30 points). To know how pathetic New York played offensively – the Raptors played a zone for most of the night – just know that Steve Novak was probably their best offensive player. Yeah, it was that bad … After spending much of the day tweeting support for an unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed recently by a neighborhood crime-watch volunteer, the Heat went out and cooked and served Detroit, 88-73. Dwyane Wade had 24 in one of Miami’s easiest wins of the year … Andrew Bynum scored 28, and Ramon Sessions had 20 points and 11 assists in his first start with L.A. as the Lakers beat Portland 103-96 … And Utah ran away from Denver, scoring 121 points in a 19-point win. In the loss, JaVale McGee still did his thing, getting a couple of blocks, finishing a great oop, goaltending a shot and also committing a flagrant foul … Keep reading to hear how the top seeds were tested in the NCAA Tournament …
