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Monster Monday as Klay hits 60, Westbrook soars
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PLENTY of points for Klay Thompson. Plenty of everything, as usual, for Russell Westbrook.
On a momentous night in the National Basketball Association, Thompson had the biggest game with a career-high 60 points and Westbrook continued his sensational season with a sixth straight triple-double.
An 11-game schedule stole the show on Monday on a night that’s long belonged to the National Football League. There were so many mesmerizing performances that even otherwise great ones weren’t good enough to get much notice.
Thompson’s topped them all, with a 40-point first half in under 19 minutes of Golden State’s 142-106 victory over Indiana.
“That’s a feat that I put money on will probably never be touched ever again in the history of basketball,” teammate Stephen Curry said.
Marc Gasol had a triple-double and James Harden wasn’t far off, but Westbrook does that every night. He had 32 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists in Oklahoma City’s 102-99 victory at Atlanta, giving him the NBA’s longest streak of triple-doubles since Michael Jordan had seven in a row in 1989.
“Obviously, the league hasn’t seen something like this in a long, long time,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said.
Thompson, who already owns the NBA record with 37 points in a quarter, might have scored many more in this one if the Warriors weren’t so explosive. He checked out after just 29 minutes and less than three quarters and thought something like 80 could’ve been in play if he could’ve stayed on the floor.
“Maybe. I think I could have, maybe one day I’ll have the opportunity,” he said. “But 60 in 29 minutes is not too bad.”
Westbrook, who is averaging a triple-double, was chosen Western Conference player of the week on Monday and is probably the leader in the race for the NBA’s biggest individual prize, the MVP. He has 11 triple-doubles in 22 games, has led the Thunder to six straight wins and has been so good that he’s overshadowing guys like Harden and Kevin Durant, who are having MVP-caliber seasons themselves.
“Just think about what Russell is doing and then there’s two, three other guys who are playing great but because of what Russell is doing ... the other guys, you really haven’t paid attention to,” Hall of Famer Magic Johnson said earlier on Monday.
Also, Cleveland had lost three straight and then lost guard JR Smith to injury early in its game at Toronto, which had won six in a row and would have overtaken the Cavaliers at the top in the Eastern Conference with a win.
Instead, LeBron James scored a season-high 34 points as the defending champions got back on track with a 116-112 victory. “I just came out and played the game and it was flowing very well for me,” James said. “The shot was feeling very well.”
Meanwhile, Gasol had 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his second career triple-double, and Memphis overcame NBA scoring leader Anthony Davis in a 110-108, double-overtime victory over New Orleans. Davis finished with 28 points and 17 rebounds.
Houston Rockets’ Harden had 37 points in a 107-102 victory over the Boston Celtics.
In a battle of 30-somethings, Damian Lillard and Dwyane Wade staged a duel in Chicago, with Lillard’s 30 points helping Portland overcome Wade’s 34 in a 112-110 victory over the Bulls.
Elsewhere on Monday, it was: Nuggets 106, 76ers 98; Wizards 118, Nets 113; Spurs 97, Bucks 96; Hornets 109, Mavericks 101; and Jazz 107, Lakers 101.
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