Russell Westbrook scored a career-high 49 points and became the first player since Michael Jordan with four consecutive triple-doubles, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 123-118 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime on Wednesday night.
Westbrook returned after missing the last game with a facial fracture and wore a clear piece of plastic over his face. Neither his vision nor his shot seemed to suffer, though he needed overtime to record another triple-double.
"It was weird. Had to keep wiping it. It was a total big process of trying to keep everything from fogging up. That's not going to stop me," Westbrook said of the mask.
He got his 10th assist on D.J. Augustin's left-corner 3, which came 1:56 into overtime and gave the Thunder the lead for good. Westbrook made two foul shots with 6.3 seconds remaining to pass his previous career high in points set last month.
He became the first player in at least the last 30 years with 49 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a game. He is the first with four consecutive triple-doubles since Jordan had seven in a row from March 25-April 6, 1989.
The Thunder earned a sixth consecutive win at home and a 12th straight victory over Philadelphia. They are 5-2 with reigning NBA MVP Kevin Durant sidelined because of foot soreness.
Dion Waiters added 20 points and 10 rebounds and Augustin scored 17, both off the bench.
Isaiah Canaan made his first five 3-pointers and hit eight of Philly's 15 3s in the game, scoring a career-high 31 points. Jason Richardson had 29 points, Luc Mbah a Moute added 18 points and 14 rebounds and Jerami Grant scored 14 off the bench for the Sixers, who have dropped three in a row and eight of their last nine.
They led by as many as 15 points early in the game and by 16 in the third quarter, but couldn't overcome a slow start in the fourth quarter and another big game from Westbrook.
Philly had eight turnovers in the fourth quarter and was just 6-of-19 in the frame for 20 points, but rallied to tie the score by hitting three 3-pointers in the last two minutes.
"We weren't able to close out the game," said Sixers coach Brett Brown, "but there were a lot of lessons to learn. ... There were a lot of good things to come out of tonight's game.
The Thunder took their largest lead -- surprise -- on consecutive buckets by Westbrook in the fourth quarter, which made it 108-99. He scored, then stole the ball, then scored again in the span of about 20 seconds.
Westbrook missed Sunday's win over the Lakers after having surgery to correct his facial fracture, which occurred Friday against Portland when teammate Andre Roberson kneed him in the face. The injury left Westbrook with a conspicuous dent near his right temple.
He was named Western Conference Player of the Month on Wednesday after joining Oscar Robertson as the only players to average 31 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists in one calendar month while playing at least 10 games.
Notes: Nerlens Noel had 13 rebounds, five blocked shots and eight points for the Sixers, but also five turnovers ... The Thunder beat the Sixers 103-91 on Dec. 5 in Philadelphia and have won 12 consecutive meetings since the last Sixers win in the series on Nov. 15, 2008 ... Westbrook has 13 career triple-doubles ... The Thunder will face the Bulls in Chicago on Thursday ... The Sixers start a five-game homestand on Friday against Utah.
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