The high-scoring duo of Russell Westbrook and Paul George have been encouraged after a splendid 25-point comeback against the Utah Jazz in Game 5, staving off elimination and closing the gap, now trailing 3-2 in the series.
At the start of a searing 32-point run in which the All-Star pairing scored and assisted on 32 straight points in the third quarter, Westbrook said “not tonight, not tonight” as he drilled a transition 3-pointer, looking at the Utah bench and feeding off the frenzy in Chesapeake Energy Arena.
“It was one of those nights where obviously our bench, our crowd, everyone here in Oklahoma was behind us,” Westbrook said, according to ESPN's Royce Young. “We needed every bit of it tonight and our guys stepped up.”
His running mate Paul George was just as special, but let the triple-double king take the props after a career-high 45-point game against the Jazz.
Article Continues Below“I thought Russ did an unbelievable job of taking what they were giving to him,” George said. “He just played the game and whatever they did, he did the opposite. He was special.”
“I think tonight with the magnitude of the game and the excitement to come back, we played off each other very well,” Westbrook said.
Head coach Billy Donovan claims he doesn't feel this would serve as momentum, instead choosing to hone-in on the mistakes made to warrant falling into a 25-point hole to begin with, hoping his All-Star tandem can step up once again in Game 6 without such heroics needed to bring it back home for a Game 7.