The Washington Wizards are still alive in the NBA Playoffs. On Monday, Wizards point guard Russell Westbrook of Long Beach, California moved into third all-time in NBA playoff triple-doubles with 12. In a 122-114 Wizards win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Westbrook had 19 points, 21 rebounds, and 14 assists in game five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.
Westbrook passed Jason Kidd of San Francisco, California, who had 11 triple-doubles. The only players with more postseason triple-doubles in their NBA careers are Magic Johnson (30), and LeBron James (28), according to Joseph Zucker of Bleacher Report. In the regular season, Westbrook became the NBA regular season all-time leader in triple-doubles, as he passed Oscar Robertson.
In the eight-point Washington win at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., Westbrook led the Wizards in rebounds and assists, and was third on Washington in points. The two Wizards with more points than Westbrook were Bradley Beal of St. Louis, Missouri (27 points), and Rui Hachimura of Toyama, Japan, who had a playoff career-high of 20 points.
The biggest story from game five is the health of 76ers star Joel Embiid, who left game four with a knee injury. There is no doubt that Philadelphia struggled without him, and if the Philadelphia star has to miss any time, the Wizards could get back into this series.
It is on the defensive side of things where Embiid has his biggest contributions. He has averaged in the double digits when it comes to rebounds per game in each of the last four years. The Wizards are extremely talented offensively, and if Philadelphia does not have their top defender, the Wizards could win three more straight games.
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