Houston Rockets guard and nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook made history during Thursday night’s game in his hometown of Los Angeles by crossing the 20,000 mark for career NBA points.
Westbrook is the 46th player in league history to score more than 20,000 points, but he’s only the third to do it with 7,000 assists and 6,000 rebounds — joining LeBron James and Oscar Robertson.
Best of all, the former MVP and 2020 All-Star achieved his personal history while helping lead the Rockets (33-18) to an improbable road win at Staples Center against the Lakers (38-12), who have had the best record in the Western Conference this season.
The surging Rockets have now won seven of their last nine games.
Westbrook was questionable going into Thursday’s game due to a sprained left thumb. But the 31-year-old didn’t show any ill effects at Staples Center, scoring a game-high 41 points on 17-of-28 shooting (60.7%). He also had eight rebounds and five assists.
Westbrook will not play in Houston’s next game on Friday night in Phoenix, since he’s scheduled to sit out half of all back-to-backs this season for planned maintenance after offseason knee surgery.
