Westbrook After Pelicans: “The Hardest Thing Is To Be Consistent”

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the injury-crippled New Orleans Pelicans last night, 122-116. This was the fourth in a row for the Thunder, who previously had lost 5 of their 6 games, and started to lose pace with the top teams in the Western Conference.

The biggest credits for this victory should go to Russell Westbrook who delivered his 15th triple-double of the season.

Russ scored 23 points and added 17 boards along with 16 assists. For most of the players in the league this is something they will never achieve, but for Westbrook is just another ordinary night.

Russell Westbrook records another triple-double as the Thunder claim the W. #ThunderUp

📊: 23 PTS | 17 REB | 16 AST pic.twitter.com/cdmIwTxA40

— NBA Australia (@NBA_AU) January 25, 2019

After the game, one of the reporters asked him how he manages to play at an unreal level all the time, and how he prepares mentally for those challenges.

“It takes you a good amount of discipline which I pride myself on” Westbrook answered, and mentioned that from discipline comes consistency, which is the most crucial thing for your performances.

“The hardest thing to do is to be consistent, and you gotta be able to do the same thing every single night, regardless of the circumstances.”

Over the past three years, Westbrook has been consistent, and he has been putting triple-double figures almost regularly.

So far this season the 2017 MVP averages 21.9 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 10.7 assists per night, along with 1.8 steals.

The game was close until the middle of the second quarter when the home team made a 15-0 run. It was enough for them to have a double-digit lead at the halftime and to enter the third sequence more relaxed.

That seemed to have a positive effect and the Thunder made another burst, this time 12-2. From that moment on, the game was practically closed, despite New Orleans’ coming back to -5 in the last period. OKC had enough composure to deny that late push. Westbrook was up to the task in those moments scoring five of Thunder’s last seven points.

Oklahoma’s coach Billy Donovan praised Westbrook’s influence on the game at the press conference, and he gave an answer why he believes the number 0 is one of the greatest players in the league.

“What makes him such a great player and what allows him to do what he does, is that the impacts the game in so many different ways,” Donovan told, and started mentioning them all. “He can do it through rebounding, he can do it through defense, he can do it through assists, he can do it through getting out in transition.”

Billy Donovan gives his thoughts after the @okcthunder win a back and forth game against the Pelicans.#ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/ZOyQkdlSj9

— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) January 25, 2019

His teammate Abdel Nader spoke highly after the game about Westbrook saying that he is “once-in-a-generation player” who can contribute on both ends of the floor and bring the energy most of the players could just dream about.

The Pelicans were without two best players, Anthony Davis and Nikola Mirotic, which no doubt made it a lot easier for the Thunder to deal with them.

“I thought we competed as hard as we possibly could and played very unselfishly,” said coach Alvin Gentry of the Pelicans. “We just didn’t have enough firepower to get over the hump.”

OKC has a big game at home coming up Sunday. They will be facing league-best Milwaukee Bucks and after that they have a three-game stand away from home. Against Magic and Heat in Florida followed by a fierce battle in Boston.

At the moment, Westbrook and the boys are third in the Western Conference, two games behind the Nuggets, four behind the leaders Golden State. After a few bad performances since the start of 2019, their form is going up and the upcoming four games would present an excellent test to see what are the current capabilities of this team.

With Westbrook in this shape, they don’t have to be afraid of any rival in the league.