Monster slam dunks with authority aren’t anything new to Russell Westbrook. Every time he goes for the slam dunk, he tries to annihilate the rim.
Tonight, he made Thon Maker pay for being in the front court on this particular play. He knew he was going straight to the paint as soon as he got the pass and he made sure nobody forgets his aggression toward the hoop. Plus, he got the and-one.
The man is disrespectful and cold-blooded.
Unfortunately, his 40 points and 14 rebounds (he was one assist shy of the triple double) on the night wasn’t enough and the Oklahoma City Thunder lost on a crazy no-call by the refs.
Giannis Antetokounmpo apparently stepped out of bounds on a last-second drive to the hoop to win the game. With six seconds remaining, he went around Josh Huestis and straight through Westbrook to make the go-ahead basket. With only 1.3 seconds left, Russ threw up the full court shot and came up short.
Afterwards, the Thunder coaches and players were asking the referees what happened on the out-of-bounds play and why they didn’t review it.