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OKLAHOMA CITY – After a win of 105 out of 98 against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, Oklahoma City Thunderkeeper Russell Westbrook returned to the field again in uniform after the match for a two-man shoot hours after the final ring.
Westbrook spoke with reporters after firing on the field with some of the team's staff who bounced back for him, still in uniform and sweating. Although he's not interested in explaining the motivation for getting extra shots.
"I would rather not talk about it honestly, I do it often, but …" said Westbrook stopping there.
It's not quite unusual that Westbrook shoots after games, but usually not on the floor of the arena. He had already done it once in Phoenix during the 2016-17 season after a tough game, but he was known to return to the Thunder's training center sometimes to shoot in the late afternoon.
Playing one night after a brilliant performance in a win over the Hornets, Westbrook struggled to make a successful shot, hitting 6 of 23 on the ground and 3 of 7 on the line to face the 3-downs. As the Thunder came closer to reducing its deficit by 25 points to five, Westbrook got a total of 5 out of 5 in the last quarter, from 3 to 0 out of 6.
"I'm going to watch the movie and see how I can be better," said Westbrook. "But every game, in a defeat, I find a way to make sure my guys are ready to play, and I'm coming back to improve some of my game and play the game."
Asked about the quality of the 12 attempts in 3 points, Westbrook replied, "Uh, what did I just say?"
Despite the defeat, the Thunder have won 12 of their last 15 games while they were playing an outstanding role on the defensive and improving steadily at the attack. Westbrook, however, seemed to bear the loss well, sitting near his locker room in his uniform for about 90 minutes before going to court to shoot for about 20 minutes.
"Russ wants to win, like all of us, but I understand that you feel that because of the passion he's playing," said Paul George. "Russ always wants to win, he'll take it with every defeat, and that's how he caught up."
George, who had 24 points on 8 out of 21 shots, including 3 out of 6, said he had no problem with Westbrook's shooting selection.
"Russ has the ability to assume a game in the far right, but tonight, these did not fall," George said. "We have seen Russ get hot behind the 3-point line and he has a great way to turn it on when you need it."
It was the second consecutive night for the Thunder and Nuggets, but OKC appeared flatter than Denver and struggled to create open looks with good ball movement. After these shots did not fall, the Thunder escaped its attack in the second quarter, taking lazy riders and challenged after small passes. It's no coincidence, that's when Denver built a 25-point lead. As a team, the Thunder only scored 35.9% of the points, scored 9 goals out of 39 against 3 and missed eight free throws.
"You miss the shots you usually make, that's good, we did them the other night, but tonight we did not do them," said Westbrook. "But for us, we still have to defend.We are not a team that relies on our attack.This is the reason why we are the number one defensive team in the league because we are defending at a high level … Regardless of missed or done shots, this is part of basketball – there will be nights where you will make shots, you can miss them, but you have to defend. "
Westbrook finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his second triple-double of the season.
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