Few video games have captured Russell Westbrook’s late-career experience as reasonably as Denver’s 144-139 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
There were a few scattered moments that reminded you why he’s playing for his sixth team in seven years. There was a nasty post in the fourth quarter that took place closer to him challenging Ziaire Williams and he was shown tunnel vision after some trash talk. He even ignored an open dunk.
But unlike many of these viral mistakes, this one came in a game in which Westbrook thrived. In 21 minutes he accumulated 22 points and five assists. That ugly post against Williams was the only one he spent all night. His defensive intent was once relentless. The momentum with which he threw this ball was totally important in generating the shot, but there was something so deliciously Westbrookian about the line. It wasn’t a huge amount to just take the ball away from Dorian Finney-Smith. I needed to throw it so juiceless that it would fly off the screen.
The Scouse loan felt moderately emblematic. For this reason the Nuggets brought Westbrook to Denver. Sure, they obviously wanted an offense from the bench. They were given just four 20-point games out of reserves all season. But they also needed this energy, a book that could support an otherwise useless bench team that loses games so often to Denver’s star starters.
Denver lost Westbrook’s minutes for 38 overall issues in its first three games. They acted frivolously in Brooklyn with him on the field on Tuesday. That’s a lot for Nikola Jokic to keep up with the rest.
Discovering that energy is difficult. Westbrook at his worst can simply undermine those lineups with questionable shooting range, missed layups known for transitioning into buckets going the wrong way, and frustrating fouls. Those were popular choices in Westbrook’s early career in Denver.
But Tuesday was a return to basics for him. The jumpers had not passed completely, but were minimized. He took only four of them and made 3. Everything else came to the basket, and significantly he was given to the series of free throws 10 times. That’s as many attempts as he had in his first three games combined. Westbrook’s most efficient model is the one that drives to the basket with reckless abandon, and he’s the only one most likely to fuel these joyless book devices in a different way.
Denver doesn’t beat Brooklyn without Westbrook on Tuesday. The Nuggets almost always lose games to reserves, they don’t win them, and while Westbrook’s median is closer to the first three games than the fourth, there’s something to be said for having a hidden player on your roster who can develop a variance so wild
For a dozen teams, for a participant to try to reach the level they have early in three quarters of their life may be unsustainable. For Denver, the bench has been so bad at getting away that the hope of making a 25% difference in games was a cheap bet. On Tuesday, at least, that gamble paid off. Only life will tell if it finally does.
