Thunder's Russell Westbrook turns page on historic season as playoffs begin

OKLAHOMA CITY – Shortly after the Thunder wrapped up its regular-season finale, Russell Westbrook grew weary of discussing individual accolades.

The Thunder guard happily answered questions about Oscar Robertson's MVP endorsement, and he answered a few questions about his record 42 triple-doubles in the regular season before his mood soured. When he was asked about winning his second scoring title in three years, he hesitated, then simply replied: "Next question."

Westbrook understands none of that matters now.

He is squarely focused on what's ahead: the Thunder's playoff series with Houston that begins Sunday.

"The group of guys that we have, especially going into the playoffs — we've got to make sure we come ready to play" he said.

Westbrook has gone into most high-stakes games with Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka at his side. But Durant left for Golden State last summer, and Ibaka now plays for Toronto.

Westbrook will have to help one of the youngest teams in the NBA get acclimated to playoff basketball. He said there won't be any special conversations about what to expect.

Westbrook doesn't want to talk about the triple-doubles, but they are a critical component for the Thunder. Oklahoma City went 33-9 this season when Westbrook registered a triple-double and 13-26 when he didn't. The Thunder is 4-1 all-time in the playoffs when Westbrook gets a triple-double.

He's facing another player who gets triple-doubles in bunches. James Harden, Westbrook's former teammate, collected 22 this season.

They are the front-runners for the MVP award, and they last played together for the Thunder in 2011-12, when Oklahoma City lost to Miami in the NBA Finals.

"It's definitely cool," Westbrook said of playing against Harden. "It's a great experience. Something that we can talk about later on down the line. Definitely, it's good."

The Thunder has played relatively well against Harden this season, holding him to 20.5 points per game on 34 percent shooting in the four meetings.

Westbrook averaged 34.6 minutes per game in the regular season and shouldered a large amount of the load for the team. He isn't sure how coach Billy Donovan will manage his minutes in the playoffs.