Russell Westbrook continues to terrorize the NBA

Mark D. Smith/USA TODAY Sports

Russell Westbrook is a man on a mission. That mission is to do whatever it takes to get the Oklahoma City Thunder into the postseason. Kevin Durant still hasn’t returned after another foot procedure, so Westbrook has taken it upon himself to will the Thunder to victories.

It hasn’t always worked. There have been games where Westbrook has tried TOO hard to do it all himself, and the result has been a close loss. That happened in Chicago last Thursday, when Oklahoma City faltered down the stretch and blew a late nine-point lead. It has happened in other games as well.

But it’s tough to put too much blame on Westbrook when he’s often the sole reason the Thunder have a chance in some of these games. What the point guard has been doing the last month-plus has been downright absurd, and he was at it again on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors.

Westbrook notched his fifth triple-double in six games, going for 30 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds in a 108-104 victory. He almost had a dubious quadruple-double by turning the ball over nine times, but I think we can probably cut him some slack considering the rest of the numbers he piled up.

By now you all know that Russell Westbrook’s February has only been matched by Oscar Robertson in NBA history. Well thus far, his March has been even better. In three games, he’s averaging 40.7 points, 11.3 rebounds and 11.3 assists while shooting 45.3 percent from the field. Those are video game numbers that don’t even seem real. Yet here we are.

Going back even further, Westbrook is averaging 34.3 points, 11.4 assists and 10.2 rebounds while shooting 44.2 percent in nine games since the All-Star break. And that of course is after he put up 41 points in the All-Star Game itself. The Thunder are 6-3 in those nine games, and Oklahoma City also beat the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that Westbrook missed because he had just had surgery to repair a facial fracture. Oh yeah, the last few games the guy has been wearing a mask to protect his face. It hasn’t slowed him down one bit.

The Thunder are currently 35-28 and a game ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans for the No. 8 seed. It looks like it’s going to be a race down to the wire, although most people think Oklahoma City is going to make it. Hell, Bovada still has the Thunder with 7/1 odds to win the 2015 NBA title, tied with the Atlanta Hawks for the third-best odds to win it all.

Of course, most people still believe Kevin Durant will come back soon and be healthy. Durant hasn’t been able to stay on the court all year, but the hope was that this latest procedure would alleviate much of the soreness he was experiencing after his initial surgery before the season. It’s still unclear when he’ll return to the lineup, but there’s no doubt that Oklahoma City will be quite the formidable force when he returns, and a first-round matchup against the Golden State Warriors would be quite something.