OKLAHOMA CITY — The last two times Russell Westbrook had a run of seven straight triple-doubles, he came up short of passing Michael Jordan for the longest streak in 51 years.
On Thursday in the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s 117-95 win against the Memphis Grizzlies, with an offensive rebound and a putback with 4:29 left in the third quarter, Westbrook sealed the longest triple-double streak in the NBA since Wilt Chamberlain had nine straight games in 1968.
Westbrook can tie Chamberlain on Saturday when the Thunder take on the Houston Rockets.
Westbrook finished Thursday’s win with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists.
He had two previous streaks of seven triple-doubles, both during his MVP-winning 2016-17 season, and Jordan had seven consecutive triple-doubles during the 1988-89 season.
For a third consecutive season, Westbrook is averaging a triple-double, with 21.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and a league-leading 11 assists per game. In 2016-17, Westbrook became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62 — and the second player ever — to average a triple-double, and he followed that up by doing it again last season.
Westbrook has 125 career triple-doubles, third on the all-time list. Magic Johnson is second with 138, and Robertson is first with 181.