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The Oklahoma City Thunder faithful received some good news before the start of their home opener against the Phoenix Suns yesterday.
“Russell Westbrook has gone through a methodical rehab process jointly created by our medical and performance teams and treating physicians. The process has been instrumental in getting Russell to this point and has included various physical and medical benchmarks. The final benchmark being unrestricted basketball activity. After hitting the necessary marks, all parties, including the team, consulting physicians, Russell’s representatives, and most importantly Russell, jointly determined that returning to play was the correct next step.” - OKC EVP & GM Sam Presti
Russell Westbrook had been officially cleared to play after receiving the go-signal from all parties. You probably remember how he ended last season:
It had been previously expected that the All-Star would miss as much as 22 regular season games, but he just missed two. And the fans missed him.
The Thunder definitely needed him against the Suns. They trailed at the half, 45-44. Their outside shooting was clearly off the mark (2/18 from 3-pt range) the whole game. He played 32.75 minutes (only KD played more), scored 21 points and dished off 7 assists to secure the 103-96 victory. He did struggle a little bit, shooting 5/16 from the field, but made up for it by going 11/14 from the free throw line. Russell acknowledged that the rust that accompanies the long lay-off, but he will work his way through it. What matters for him is that he is able to do what he wants, like these:
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