By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Denver Nuggets star guard Russell Westbrook described the intense and highly energetic way he performs on the floor in a manner that may result from the worst play to the absolute best one.
Otherwise known as the “Russell Westbrook Experience.”
“My ability to be able to be a force of nature on the floor is what I pride myself on, whatever that looks like,” Westbrook said after the Nuggets‘ win over the Clippers in Game 7 of the first-round series of the NBA playoffs. “It may be a turnover. May be a missed shot. But it may be a steal. It may be a dunk. It may be a missed three. It may be a made three. It’s going to be all of that. It’s going to be everything. Take it how it comes. Whatever happens, you go with it.”
Westbrook was indeed all of that but mostly the positive ones, in the blowout victory over the Clippers. He delivered 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals in 27 minutes off the bench for a key contribution as Denver advanced to the second round.
One of hist top moments in the game was a transition dunk where he received a technical after hanging on the rim for too long. His slam put the Nuggets up 107 – 76 with 6:53 remaining.
“I thought about it when I was about to get off the rim backwards. And I just said, ‘Nah, I’m going to stay up here and try to break the rim’.” Westbrook joked. “And then the tech came. Intensity, emotions and everything. And not just for me. The fans here are great. They give me a lot of energy and I feed off of them. That moment was a sign of relief. That we had the game in hand.”