Russell Westbrook became the only player with multiple 20-assist, 20-rebound games in NBA history — Wilt Chamberlain is the only other player with one — and the surging Washington Wizards moved closer to Indiana in the Eastern Conference playoff standings by beating the Pacers 154-141 on Monday night.
Westbrook had 14 points to go along with his career-high 21 rebounds and career-high-tying 24 assists for his league-leading 32nd triple-double of the season. He has 178 triple-doubles, three short of Oscar Robertson’s career record, with seven games remaining this season for Washington.
Monday’s performance guarantees that Westbrook will average a triple-double in a season for the fourth time in his career; Robertson is the only other player to do this, and he did it once, in 1961-62.
“Point guards don’t do what he does. He’s not normal; they’re not built that way,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “There may be someone that probably shoots better. There might be someone that probably can do certain things better. But there’s nobody in the history of the game that can do what he does throughout the stat sheet.
