Sports

Russell Westbrook Won the NBA Scoring Title, but He’d Rather Have a Playoff Spot

Published

11 years ago

April 16, 2015

Kyle Yeldell

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook goes up for a dunk in the first quarter of the Thunder's preseason NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

(USA Today) – The race for the 8-seed in the West between the Thunder and the Pelicans came right down to the last regular season game, and Russell Westbrook came out shooting from the hip. He logged 34 points and six rebounds, and that was just in the first half. If the Thunder weren’t going to make the playoffs, it wasn’t going to be his fault.

He had 23 of those points in the first quarter, accounting for about half of the Thunder’s 47. They ended up crushing the Timberwolves 138-111, and Westbrook came away with the NBA scoring title, having averaged 28.1 points per game, and making the Thunder franchise to be the first since 1952 to have two players win the title back-to-back (Kevin Durant won last year).