in response to my clutch shots thread the other day, multiple haters proceeded to reply with “he stinks in the playoffs” and that kind of false narrative

so I present to you, Russell Westbrook, a historic playoff player

this took ages, all RTs and likes appreciated

2010, in his second year (22) Russell Westbrook had his first playoff series, OKC lost 4-2 to the eventual winners LA Lakers, but something was very clear to the Mamba Kobe here, OKC were brewing.

Westbrook had losses in a game where he shot 10/16 (Durant shot 7/24) and was +1 positive in the elimination game (Durant shot 5/23), Durant shot 35% from the field across the entire playoffs which didn’t exactly help. OKC weren’t expected to win 2 games here, but they did

2011

OKC defeated Denver 4-1 in the first round with no issues, Westbrook and Durant had their first playoff victory, their first of many as a dynamic duo, the hype was real for the 23+24 year old, followed by their new buddy James Harden

the next series was a brutal 7 game series against Memphis, down 2-1 on the road Westbrook played 51 MINUTES scoring 40pts, he finished this off with 14pts, 14asts, 10rebs +19 as OKC coasted through game 7

OKC’s playoff run was ended by Dallas in 5 very close games (2 consecutive years beaten by the eventual champions) OKC lost their first home game by 6, Russ was a +6 in this game, meaning OKC were -12 in the 6 minutes he did not play (Durant shot 7/22), Dallas dominated Miami

moving onto 2012, another tricky first round matchup, the Dallas Mavericks were looking to repeat, Westbrook and OKC had other ideas, sweeping them, Russ set the ball rolling in game 1 where he had 28pts on 13/23fg

the next series was against the Lakers game1=27pts on 10/15fg, +27, game4=37pts on 15/26fg +9 in a 3pt win, and you can’t forget this play, where Westbrook earned the respect of Kobe in game 5 sending him home, 28pts on 12/25fg, +25 in a 16pt win

OKC fans, this play is for you.

things looked to be all over in the WCSF, Russ played awful in the first 2 games against the Spurs and went down 0-2, but OKC led by Durant won 4 straight games and left Pop bemused. Russ’ game5 in SA: 23pts, 12asts, 4stls

Russ, Kd, Harden were for real

OKC fell short once again losing to the champions Miami 4-1 (3 times in a row they lost to the eventual champions WOW) Westbrook had an excellent series, his first game on the road +3 in a 6pt loss 8/18, but he wasn’t satisfied, he dropped 43pts on 20/32fg in game 4 with no help

2013, OKC were back, and now favourites, it was time to make it over the final bump, the #1 seed for the first time, this was their year to become champions, not lose to the eventual champions, 2 games in and erghhh... he was out for several months, OKC lost the next round

things didn’t start easy the next year in 2014, they battled it out in a 7 game series where Westbrook once again showed up in the elimination game 27pts (10/16fg) 16 assists, 10 rebounds

OKC beat Clippers 4-2 in the next round, Westbrook was in his bag against the great CP3 the whole series, most notably in game 5 where he dropped 38pts and won the game with 2 amazing plays in the clutch

OKC and Westbrook then lost to the eventual champions Spurs 4-2 (YES FOUR TIMES IN A ROW IT TOOK THE EVENTUAL CHAMPIONS) Westbrook showed up late in game 6, he was +11 in a 5 point loss, OKC -16 in the 9minutes he didn’t play, it wasn’t enough, a story of the franchise

despite his amazing 4th QTR to send the game to OT, I can’t forget this shot, it’s just too funny not to include

maybe the worst shot of all time?

2016: let’s get past the bullshit here we only care about 1 series, Westbrook 1st round last game (4-1) vs Dallas: 36pts on 13/23fg, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, Westbrook last game (4-2) vs Spurs: 28pts on 10/21fg, 12 assists,

the 73-9 Warriors,OKC had them down 3-1, Russ was a monster in the 3 wins, recording the highest +/- of the entire playoffs in game 3 (+41), GSW were down and out, all OKC had to do was finish it off at home, that’s when ... KD happened (8pts up going into the 4th quarter)

Kevin Durant 4th QTR: missed2pt(0-1), missed2pt(0-2), missed2pt(0-3), make2pt(1-4), missed2pt(1-5)
*now up1 4mins to go*
turnover(1-5,1TO), missed2pt(1-6), missed3pt(1-7), turnover(1-7,2TO)
remember this is the game people say KD left because of ...

2017 (NO KD), coming off the back of maybe the best season ever, and putting an awful team on his back, the reigning MVP had a point to prove against Houston in the playoffs, the way his front office let him down here was SICKENING.

game 1 - Russ was awful, but then the switch flipped, game 2 - 51pts, 13asts, 10rebs, 4stls, +11, yet they lost by 4... OKC were -15 in the 6 minutes he didn’t play, embarrassing from Presti + Donavon, they won the next game and now it was onto the next two (down 1-2)

game 4 - 35pts, 14rebs, 14asts, 3stls, +14, loss by 4, OKC WERE FUCKING -18 in the 9 minutes he didn’t play, you must be thinking this can’t get any worse? game 5 - 47pts, 9asts, 11rebs, +12, loss by 6, OKC WERE -18 IN THE 6 MINUTES HE DIDN’T PLAY. ABSOLUTELY EMBARRASSING @okc

2018: Russ got off to a bad start vs the Jazz, there was no KD to help, they were down 1-3 and all 3 losses he deserved, but yet again something flipped, he tried putting the team on his back, down 25 in the 3rd qtr Russ brought OKC back from a HUGE deficit, 45pts, 15rebs, 7asts

Game 6 Russ was at it again, 46pts, 10rebs, 5asts, +1 in a 5 point loss, he went out like a warrior despite having an inferior team and ZERO HELP, his second best player Paul George shot 2/16 from the field, embarrassing

2019: Westbrook and OKC were the 6th seed vs 3rd seed Portland, the odds were stacked against them against the better team, Westbrook was playing with two injuries that he needed surgeries on, and PG was playing with literally no shoulders

Russ wasn’t good, PG wasn’t good. Donavon ended the series when he decided to let Schroder guard Lillard and switch everything so it was Adams a lot of the time, Russ still managed to battle like a warrior in game5 giving his team a chance until Lillard hit this over PG“bad shot”

if you reached the end, I hope you enjoyed this thread, this was for you Russell Westbrook fans,

whenever someone tries to destroy his legacy, simply reference this thread, I just made your arguments a whole lot easier