The Denver Nuggets hosted a shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers team on Friday night. Without LeBron James, Luka Doncic and several other key contributors, Los Angeles went deep into its bench for this big Western Conference game.
Denver was mostly healthy for this contest, welcoming starting power forward Aaron Gordon back to the lineup after a two-game absence. This moved point guard Russell Westbrook back to the bench, as the 17-year NBA veteran had started the previous two games in Gordon’s absence.
Facing his former team, Westbrook stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, seven assists, six rebounds and a three 3-point baskets.
Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook (4).
© Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
With his fourth rebound of the game, Westbrook pulled down his 300th of the season. This milestone made history for Westbrook, as he now has 16 different seasons with at least 300 rebounds. Per Basketball Reference’s StatHead, that ties Hall of Famer Jason Kidd for the most such seasons by a point guard in NBA history.
The only season of Westbrook’s career he did not reach 300 rebounds came in the 2013-14 campaign when he was limited to just 46 games. Still producing at a high-level at age-36, Westbrook entered Friday’s contest averaging 12.9 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds.
A nine-time NBA All-Star and the 2017 league MVP, Westbrook is also closing in on 26,000 career points. Following his 15-point outing on Friday, the NBA’s all-time triple-double leader has 25,991 career points.
The Nuggets and Lakers entered this contest tied in the loss column, making it a massive Western Conference battle.