Russell Westbrook has been one of the NBA’s biggest names throughout the last decade, someone who is a superstar and an MVP. He has set and broken some incredible statistical records, including the season when he averaged a triple-double for the entirety of the campaign. However, Westbrook has always had a bit of a sloppy side to his game, being quite prone to turning the ball over.
This has come up a number of times this season especially, with his turnovers costing the Los Angeles Lakers in crucial games. He has been averaging 4.6 turnovers a game, well above his career average of 4.1 per game. That’s why Westbrook’s performance against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night really stood out statistically.
Westbrook had 0 turnovers in the 122-114 win for his Lakers team, something that snapped a historic streak. As shared by ESPN, this was the first time in 408 games that Westbrook has gone the whole game without turning the ball over even once. He snapped his 407-game streak of having at least one turnover, the longest since the stat started being recorded during the 1977-78 NBA season.
Russell Westbrook finished Tuesday with 0 turnovers vs Kings.
It was the first time since March 14, 2016 that he did not record a turnover in a game.
That snaps a 407-game streak with a turnover, which was the longest since turnover tracking started in 1977-78. pic.twitter.com/OaN0f8Lxjm
— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) January 5, 2022
This is the first time since March 2016 that Westbrook has gotten through an NBA game without losing the ball at least once, which is mind-boggling to think about. Unsurprisingly, this resulted in Westbrook recording his fourth highest box plus-minus score this season, registering an excellent +17.
Westbrook had 19 points in addition to his flawless game with the ball while also grabbing 7 rebounds and dishing out a couple of assists. Barring a slow start to the game in the first quarter, the Lakers won every other quarter to put the Kings away and improve their record to 20-19. This finally has Los Angeles above .500 for the first time since they were 16-13 after 29 games. If Westbrook can continue to be more careful with the ball, the Lakers might be able to do a lot more moving forward in the season.
