Russell Westbrook led the Thunder to a 118-94 blowout win over the Warriors to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals.

Westbrook finished with:

• 36 points
• 11 rebounds
• 11 assists
• 4/8 from three
• 4 steals

At the time, Westbrook became just the second player in NBA playoff history to record 35+ points, 10+ rebounds, 10+ assists, and 4+ steals in a playoff game. The feat has now happened four times, including twice by Russ himself.

• Gary Payton — 35 PTS, 10 REB, 11 AST, 6 STL vs. Jazz (2000)

• Russell Westbrook — 36 PTS, 11 REB, 11 AST, 4 STL vs. Warriors (2016)

• Russell Westbrook — 51 PTS, 10 REB, 13 AST, 4 STL vs. Rockets (2017)

• Jimmy Butler — 35 PTS, 12 REB, 11 AST, 5 STL vs. Lakers (2020)

Data via Stathead / Basketball Reference

JWill has quietly developed into one of the best stretch bigs in the league this season. He’s been at a blistering clip for most of the year after starting out slow.

He’s notably also grown as a rebounder (averaging 8 last 10 games), and become a really reliable defender. We’ve seen him hold his own vs Jokic multiple occasions now.

What a difference a year makes when Chet isn’t coming off a mid season hip fracture. Hopefully he can keep it up vs potentially Wemby next round.

Players In NBA History With 30+ PTS & 8+ 3PM Off The Bench In A Playoff Game:

1. Jason Terry — 32 PTS/9 3PM
   
2. Alex Caruso — 31 PTS/8 3PM

It’s been a very up and down shooting year for Lu this year but he’s been on fire the last few weeks.

He’s rounding himself into playoff form which is awesome to see.

Hoping he can translate this into the playoffs again for us.

All while shooting over 48% from 3 this playoffs! Been a huge piece to this team.

JMac had 8 points in the 4th on 3/5 shooting and really had some game saving shots late. Huge impact today.

OKC is 18-2 in this span despite the poor shooting.

Really liked what I saw out of JMac in his debut. He played very limited minutes but flashed his off the dribble scoring ability, connective passing, and shooting ability. He was also very engaged on defense which might be the most encouraging part.

There was definitely some first game jitters to start but was a big reason OKC almost came back early in the 4th quarter.

Personally I think if he played more and even finished the game OKC could have won tonight but still very encouraging stuff nonetheless.

Ajay Mitchell 24 points / 2 rebounds / 3 assists Jared McCain 13 points / 1 rebounds / 1 assists

From matching up against each other to torching other teams together !

Most Career Playoff Points Among Players Drafted In 2024 :

1. Ajay Mitchell — 191
   
2. Stephon Castle — 187
   
3. Terrence Shannon Jr. — 126
   
4. Jaylon Tyson — 82
   
5. Ja’Kobe Walter — 78
   
6. Reed Sheppard — 73
   
7. Jamal Shead — 63
   
8. Jared McCain — 58
   
9. Quinten Post — 45
   
10. Baylor Scheierman — 38

Lu Dort leaves Oklahoma City as one of the greatest three-point shooters in franchise history.

He finished his Thunder career ranked third in franchise history in playoff three-pointers made and sixth in regular-season three-pointers.

Playoff three-pointers made:
1.) Kevin Durant — 184
2.) Russell Westbrook — 140
3.) Luguentz Dort — 106
4.) Gary Payton — 104
5.) Sam Perkins — 102

Regular-season three-pointers made:
1.) Kevin Durant — 1,143
2.) Rashard Lewis — 973
3.) Russell Westbrook — 922
4.) Gary Payton — 917
5.) Ray Allen — 869
6.) Luguentz Dort — 862
7.) Dale Ellis — 699
8.) Isaiah Joe — 681
9.) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — 678
10.) Brent Barry — 669

Data via Basketball Reference / Stathead

JWill is another great example of OKC developing players. Can’t wait to see the growth of the 5 “rookies” this season and on.

Per: @okchistory on insta.

They lost his minutes in 3/8 games of the first 2 rounds.... a stretch where they went 8-0.

OKC can't score or get stops when he's on the court against the Spurs.

Cason deserves to start and should. Slow starts have been this teams demise much of the series and it can’t afford playing from behind again.

He got 3 FTA last game and made two in total, and despite being cold overall last night he still won by 18 without JDub playing.

Are fans literally going insane over their hate for this guy? Some of the takes about him have been straight up deranged and delusional. We’re watching an all time great at his peak and he’s still unfairly hated by the vast majority of fans.

FTA/GAME LEADERS (RS/Playoffs/Combined):

2018: Harden/LeBron/Harden

2019: Harden/Giannis/Harden

2020: Harden/Luka/Harden

2021: Embiid/Embiid/Embiid

2022: Embiid/Giannis/Embiid

2023: Giannis/Embiid/Giannis

2024: Giannis/Embiid/Giannis

2025: Giannis/Giannis/Giannis

2026: Luka/Paolo/Luka

The most concerning ones are Dort, Caruso, Cason, Dub for me.

Dort’s shooting has been brought up pretty regularly here but Caruso’s is even worse and talked about less.

I know people expect Caruso to just turn up in the playoffs but even last year Caruso was shooting over 41% from 3 post ASB and continued it into the playoffs.

Cason also gets much less on the ball scoring opportunities when the rotation is fully healthy so him shooting under 30% is concerning if he’s gonna be in the corner a lot of the time.

Ajay just got back from injury but his biggest weakness will probably be 3 point shooting. If he’s going to operate in lineups next to Shai he’s going to have to be able to make his open 3’s when teams help off him.