BROOKLYN, N.Y. – While most of the Nuggets slept or kept quiet during a long flight to Toronto last weekend, Russell Westbrook walked up to the back of the team’s plane and struck up a conversation with coach Michael Malone.
They talked basketball, Denver’s new second unit and their bumpy start to the season. But that was secondary to Westbrook in this context. He had already tried to make the rounds with his new teammates during training camp, wanting to familiarize himself with their backgrounds. Now he had a chance to learn more about from his trainer.
“I do that stuff all the time, man; it’s just not seen by (the public),” Westbrook said. “… I like to learn about people, learn about their family, their kids. Basketball is whatever.”
He and Malone even ended up talking about the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, a topic Westbrook had learned about during his 11 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder, prompting him to produce a documentary for History Channel called “Burning in Tulsa.”
“I mean, what an interesting person Russell Westbrook is,” Malone marveled.
Westbrook’s on-court production had been secondary to the intangible impression he’s left in Denver before Tuesday, when his big performance ignited a team on fumes in Brooklyn. The Nuggets rallied from a 17-point deficit to force overtime and clinch the second time in as many nights – and in as many cities. In a 144-139 victorythe reserve point guard totaled 22 points and five assists in regulation time. He didn’t even have to play in overtime for his relentless presence to remain inescapable at the Barclays Center.
With 17 seconds left in the game, Nets veteran Dennis Schroder committed an offensive foul in the corner, right in front of the visiting bench. Westbrook paraded to the scene of the crime and pointed to the other end of the court, gleefully mimicking the foul. Schroder stood, perplexed.
“It was time for the game to end and go eat,” Westbrook said.
It was a vintage, idiosyncratic Russ moment, perhaps the most appropriate embodiment of his impact in Denver so far, in that it came outside of game action and infused the roster with a bit of fresh personality. That’s been a constant, even if the points and assists haven’t been.
“It’s not just about putting the ball in the hoop,” Peyton Watson said when asked if the scoring surge is what the Nuggets envisioned when they added Westbrook. “Russ does a lot of things that a lot of people would never see. … All those things matter more to me than whether he makes or misses shots.”
The 35-year-old’s personality can be polarizing, as can his skills. Even in the first half of this multinational back-to-back, he stirred the pot. The Nuggets were trying to close the gap early in the fourth quarter when Westbrook committed a hard foul in the air on Scottie Barnes to prevent a fast-break basket, prompting a confrontation between Barnes and Aaron Gordon. Toronto fans booed Westbrook every time he touched the ball the rest of the night. But the incident gave his team life.
Malone has been driven by that trait since training camp: a seemingly unwavering energy and intensity that rivals his own reddening fervor on the sidelines. Once again, Westbrook was the source of the Nuggets’ reinvigorated sense of purpose Tuesday.
They were exhausted. They couldn’t stay in front of their games. The lowly Nets scored 40 points in the first quarter. Overtime, U.S. Customs and a shortened rotation were taking their toll. The Nuggets didn’t even make it to the team hotel for this game until after 3 a.m.
But on the flight from Toronto to New York, Malone and Westbrook had briefly interacted again. This time, it was more of a working visit, but the 10-year coach was impressed.
“I told him, ‘Hey, man, I know you’re a 17-year veteran. At this point in the season, are you ready?”‘” Malone recalls. “He told me, ‘Oh, I’m great. I’m ready.’ Music to my ears.”
“I have my two kids who keep me connected and moving,” as Westbrook puts it, “so my energy is always high.”
Jokic played 40 minutes for the second straight game, a threshold he crossed only four times during his third MVP season. Michael Porter Jr. totaled more than 80 minutes between the two games as he acclimated to his role in the second unit. Gordon was coming off a stint as Denver’s starting power forward and backup center in Toronto.
For a team that was lamenting its exhaustion and even overexertion at the end of a heartbreaking Game 7 last season, a back-to-back on the road with both games going into overtime wasn’t exactly the ideal formula for turning the page.
“I hope we don’t have to go to overtime every game the rest of the season,” Malone joked.
Westbrook was the perfect asset for that. Last week, his jump shots showed signs of being a liability, but his fitness did not. He channeled his tenacity into a 2-for-2 night from the 3-point line and 10-for-10 from the foul line in Brooklyn. Behind the scenes at halftime he took it upon himself to get gas, change the oil and wash the car all in one.
“I have no problem being the bad guy in the movie, being the bad cop and messing with the guys,” Malone said. “But at halftime, when you have a guy like Russell Westbrook talking and imploring his teammates about our defense, or lack thereof at the time, that’s very valuable. I’m very thankful he’s here.”
Even after Westbrook started the season 5-for-25 shooting from the field in three games. There will be other stretches like that, games not as fluid as the one in Brooklyn. Malone will have to weather them, especially if the wins continue to be few and far between. But a week later, the insistent refrain from him and the players has been that the peaks and valleys are outweighed by Westbrook’s strong outbursts of passion in practice and quiet moments of compassion.
“His guidance, his leadership and just the mentor he’s been to me is enough,” Watson said.
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