Russell Westbrook showed his full array of skills with a monster triple-double effort in Thursday night's 122-116 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan lauded his star's versatile effort to pull out the win and help keep the third seed in the West, doing so in more ways than scoring.

“He impacts the game in so many different ways,” Donovan said, according to The Associated Press. “He can do it through rebounding, he can do it through defense, he can do it through assists, he can do it through getting out in transition. He does a lot of different things to impact the game, so when people talked to me earlier on about his shooting — I'm really not worried about it.”

The Thunder needed all the contributions they could muster against an inspired Pelicans team playing without star Anthony Davis and key sharpshooter Nikola Mirotic, both out with injuries.

Related NewsArticle continues below
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) runs down the court for a play against the Denver Nuggets during the first quarter of game five of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s confidence delivers in the clutch in Game 5
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) on the bench in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder during game three of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena.
Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic sends Game 6 warning to Thunder

Westbrook's triple-double of 23 points, 17 rebounds and 16 assists was just the bombastic performance OKC needed from their catalyst to give them the ultimate edge against a hobbled, but persistent team fighting for a spot in the postseason.

“They just put different and weird lineups out there and they had a little momentum going,” said forward Paul George. “We did what we had to do. We did enough to win tonight.”

Westbrook hasn't had the most efficient of seasons, shooting only 41.8 percent from the floor, 24.3 percent from deep and a baffling 65 percent from the foul line, yet he's still averaging a triple-double for the third straight season in mind-blowing fashion.