The Oklahoma City Thunder play the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. ET. Watch the live stream via the link provided below.
Thunder star Russell Westbrook is the talk of the NBA. He recorded his fourth straight triple-double in a win on Wednesday against the Philadelphia 76ers, 123-118. Westbrook's fourth straight triple-double was the first time it's happened since Michael Jordan did it in 1989, and his 49 points against Philly set a new career-high.
"It's definitely a blessing," Westbrook said, according to ESPN, "but more importantly, I think it's important that we're winning."
Westbrook's performance seemed to blow away coach Scott Brooks, who admitted he wasn't expecting a career night from the point guard.
"For those of you, including myself, that thought Russell might need a couple of games to get used to wearing a mask, we were wrong," Brooks said of Westbrook, who wore a protective mask for the first time that night in order to protect a broken bone in his right cheek. "He was all over the floor."
Oklahoma City (34-27) has scratched and clawed its way into eighth place in the West, winning nine of their last 11 games. The Thunder's streak over those 11 games is even more impressive because superstar Kevin Durant has missed the last seven outings, forcing Westbrook to shoulder most of the offensive load.
Chicago (38-23) has continued to struggle with consistency, losing three of their last seven games. Injuries to Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson hasn't helped matters, but the team had unlikely heroes step up on Tuesday to help defeat the Washington Wizards, 97-92.
Rookie Nikola Mirotic finished Tuesday with 23 points and eight rebounds, a solid follow up to his 29 points and nine rebounds on Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers, and guard Aaron Brooks finished with 22 points and eight assists.
Watch the live stream HERE.
