Russell Westbrook’s Actions During Nuggets Game Catch Attention

The Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder are tied at one win apiece in their Western Conference semifinal series, and Game 3 has been a close battle through two quarters and change.

Reserve guard Russell Westbrook has been a major factor for the Nuggets so far in the playoffs. In their stunning Game 1 win, he scored 18 points, and he had the assist that led to the game-winning 3-pointer by Aaron Gordon.

Early in Game 3, Westbrook used his anticipation skills to steal an errant pass and turn it into an easy fast-break layup. While he didn’t play well in the first half overall, he made enough of a contribution to allow Denver to trail by just five points at intermission.

Russell with the hustle pic.twitter.com/W5cKOGXLFd

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) May 10, 2025

Fans reacted to the play on X.

“Need more this,” one fan wrote.

Need more this

— Vet (@Vetmetax) May 10, 2025

“happy to see this from westbrook i like to see the flashes of him back to his prime,” a second fan wrote.

happy to see this from westbrook i like to see the flashes of him back to his prime

— Another clip (@Themainclip) May 10, 2025

“Russell Westbrook making his minutes worthy,” a third fan wrote. “What a hustle play”

Russell Westbrook making his minutes worthy. What a hustle play

— N (@En_Solana) May 10, 2025

“My goat Russ, and MPJ finally stepping up 😭🙏,” wrote a fourth fan.

My goat Russ, and MPJ finally stepping up 😭🙏

— 𝕬 (@janpunchy_) May 10, 2025

“Hustling,” a fifth fan wrote.

Hustling

— Twon (@Twon024) May 10, 2025

“We needed that dunk goat 💔,” another fan wrote.

We needed that dunk goat 💔

— Justin ♛ (@BallLikeRuss) May 10, 2025

Westbrook has never been considered a great defender. In fact, critics have accused him of gambling a lot or even cutting possessions short to leave his man and go after defensive rebounds. Some feel he does the latter to merely pad his rebounding stats.

But he has energized the Nuggets this season off the bench while embracing his reduced role. The former league MVP averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 27.9 minutes a game, and his true shooting percentage of .532 was the highest it had been in five years.

Westbrook, of course, played his first 11 NBA seasons with the Thunder, and he averaged a triple-double in each of his last three seasons with them. They reached the NBA Finals in 2012 with a core that consisted of him, Kevin Durant and James Harden, only to lose to LeBron James’ Miami Heat in five games.

Related: Russell Westbrook Had Strong Words for Nikola Jokic After Nuggets Game