Russell Westbrook recorded his eighth triple-double of the season Friday night, putting up 29 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out 12 assists against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home. He did almost have a quadruple double because of his 8 turnovers though so the night wasn’t exactly perfect for him. Westbrook had 8 points and 4 assists in the first quarter, but he took over in the fourth, scoring 15 points to put the game out of reach against the young T-Wolves.
Westbrook had a great performance for the Thunder, no doubt but there was some immediate cause for concern. That final rebound that Westbrook obtained, was it really a rebound?
Check out his tenth rebound.
Then, ESPN’s Royce Young reported the following.
The Thunder were enjoying an impressive blowout over the young Minnesota Timberwolves, and Westbrook was going to be left to watch the final couple of minutes a single rebound short. That’s when he took matters into his own hands. He looked over at the Thunder’s official scorekeepers, holding his arm up.
“Tip?” he said, nodding his head. “Tip?”
A quick conference at the scorer’s table and right around the time the buzzer sounded on the Thunder’s 113-99 win, Westbrook suddenly had his triple-double: 29 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. His eighth of the season, sixth in the last eight games, and the first player since Jason Kidd in 2007-08 to have eight or more in a season (Kidd had 13).
The rebound appears to be a tad dubious, an offensive board awarded with 2:35 left where Westbrook went up to tip back a missed 3-point attempt by D.J. Augustin. Westbrook was given a missed shot on it, so everything is on the up and up, but still, hard not to raise an eyebrow.
How the scorekeepers probably saw this was, somehow Westbrook getting a hand on the ball to tip it back was a shot attempt, which means you would have to credit him with a rebound and a missed field goal, and that would have been the proper assessment in this situation for scoring the Westbrook play.
Following from Brett Pollakoff of NBC’s Probasketball talk.
The NBA rulebook, however, doesn’t necessarily see it that way. Here’s how it defines a field goal attempt (emphasis mine):
“A field goal attempt is a player’s attempt to shoot the ball into his basket for a field goal. The act of shooting starts when, in the official’s judgment, the player has started his shooting motion and continues until the shooting motion ceases and he returns to a normal floor position. It is not essential that the ball leave the shooter’s hand. His arm(s) might be held so that he cannot actually make an attempt.
“The term is also used to include the flight of the ball until it becomes dead or is touched by a player. A tap during a jump ball or rebound is not considered a field goal attempt. However, anytime a live ball is in flight toward the rim from the playing court, the goal, if made, shall count, even if time expires or the official’s whistle sounds. The field goal will not be scored if time on the game clock expires before the ball leaves the player’s hand or the ball is in flight toward the rim.”
Pollakoff also reminds us of 2 instances earlier this season when both Cleveland Cavaliers super star LeBron James and Detroit Pistons forward Andre Drummond had stats taken away after the NBA reviewed some questionable calls. LeBron had a triple-double rescinded by the league and Drummond had 2 offensive rebounds taken away just the other day after he had some similar instances of ‘tips’ at the rim. The same may happen to Westbrook, but it’s yet to be decided.
At the end of the day, he led the Thunder to another victory and with it they are tied with the New Orleans Pelicans for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Westbrook continues to keep his name in the MVP conversation with performances like this, valid rebound or not. What the Thunder need more than anything is Westbrook to help get them wins without Kevin Durant. The MVP trophy wont land in Oklahoma City for the second straight year if the Thunder don’t make the playoffs.
