G66 Jeremy Lin and the Nets Need to Prevent Westbrook Triple-Double to Beat OKC Thunder
The Nets managed to snap 16-home game losing streak against the Knicks with 120-112 win. The Nets hit an impressive 19 three-pointers (19-38) as a team. After a slow 0-9 shooting start in the first three quarters, Jeremy Lin showcased a mini-Linsanity run in the fourth quarter to score 9pts/1ast/1reb along with great ball movement by the Nets to neutralize the Knicks run. After the game, Lin shared the fatigue after coming back from the 8-game road trip impacting his body in the first three quarters.
Nets vs Thunder Matchup
Russell Westbrook’s triple-double stats is astounding. He has 32 triple-doubles and is only 9 away from Oscar Robertson’s single-season record from 1961-62 season. The Thunder is 26-6 when Westbrook gets triple-double and 11-23 when he doesn’t. It is quite clear that Jeremy Lin and the Nets need to stop Westbrook to achieve a triple-double to increase the chance to beat the Thunder.
NBA.com Preview:
From the Thunder’s perspective, the only blizzard they care about is Russell Westbrook‘s statistics in a win.
Westbrook heads into the Tuesday game against the Brooklyn Nets with 32 triple-doubles, giving him the second most in a single season and putting him nine shy of Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson’s mark from the 1961-62 season.
On Saturday, Westbrook posted his 32nd triple-double of the season with 33 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds in a 112-104 win over the Utah Jazz. He brook a tie with Wilt Chamberlain (1967-68) for the second-most triple-doubles in a season. The Thunder are 26-6 when Westbrook gets a triple-double and 59-10 in his 69 career triple-doubles.
The Nets (12-53) snapped a 16-game home losing streak that spanned 75 days since Dec. 26. They were returning home from a 2-6 road trip.
“We weren’t thinking about that at all,” Lopez said of the skid. “We felt we closed the road trip decently. We definitely felt we could have done better. We definitely think we’re turning the right way, and we needed to continue to do the right thing and have belief in each other as a group and as a team.”
Jeremy Lin, who was injured during the home losing streak, added nine of his 13 in the fourth quarter Sunday, including the game-clinching jumper in the final minute.
Brooklyn also tied a season-high with 19 3-pointers and won for the third time in nine games since the All-Star break.
“We didn’t even talk about it,” Nets forward Trevor Booker said. “We just felt like we had a couple of games on that road trip where we started playing some pretty good basketball, so we wanted to come home and just build off of that.”
KEY OF THE GAME: Cut down turnovers, tough defense and a strong game from Jeremy Lin, Brook Lopez, and the Nets to prevent another Westbrook triple-double in order to beat the Thunder. A strong game from Sean Kilpatrick, Caris LeVert, Quincy Acy, Isaiah Whitehead with minimum turnovers would help secure a win.
Let’s hope and pray JLin will stay healthy as his body adjusts to the rigor of NBA physical games and help the Nets believe they can win more games!
Let’s go, JLin and the Nets!
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