Thunder’s Westbrook poses huge challenge for Mavericks

How to guard Oklahoma City point guard Russell Westbrook is a major concern for the Dallas Mavericks when the teams play at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at American Airlines Center.

Westbrook averages 28.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game and is one of the premier playmakers in the NBA.

“He’s averaging 33 points a game over the last 10 games,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Right now there’s no more lethal scorer in the game than him, so a lot of attention has to be focused on him.”

Rajon Rondo, whom the Mavs acquired in a trade with the Boston Celtics on Dec. 18, will face his first stiff challenge since joining the team. But Carlisle doesn’t want anyone to think he’s going to ask Rondo to guard Westbrook by himself.

“Yeah, it’s a five-man responsibility with Westbrook because he comes down and if there’s any space at all, he gets to the rim and he’s a great pull-up jump shooter,” Carlisle said. “The numbers tell the story — 33 a game for 10 straight games; I mean that’s ridiculous.”

Backup point guard Devin Harris knows of the challenge that comes with trying to slow a player of Westbrook’s caliber.

“When you can shoot anyplace, anytime, anywhere, that’s tough to guard,” Harris said. “Especially the way he gets to the free throw line.

“He’s so explosive, and to be able to finish over big guys, we’ve got to try to make him take tough twos. But he’s really good at making them.”

Rondo finding shots

The Mavs were not bothered that Rondo took more shots than anyone who played in Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rondo was 10 of 17 from the field and scored a season-high 21 points. His shots came within the flow of the offense, which is how the Mavs would prefer he take them.

“Look, we need him to play basketball,” Carlisle said. “Particularly in the Western Conference, everybody’s got to be armed and dangerous out there, and you’ve got to be a threat to score and Rajon knows that.

“I liked his aggression [Friday night] and I see him continuing to be aggressive”

Because Rondo is not known as a terrific shooter, the Mavs know he’s probably going to be wide open a lot of times.

“He’s going to have the ball probably the majority of the time,” Harris said. “And he’s the guy that they sag of off, so we need to make teams pay that way, and I think he’s at that mindset.

“If he can make shots the way he did last night we’re going to be fine.”

Carlisle’s milestone

Carlisle will be coaching in his 1,000th NBA game when the Mavs host Oklahoma City.

Carlisle downplayed the milestone when asked about it after Saturday’s practice.

“I hadn’t thought about it at all, and I’m not counting,” Carlisle said. “Thanks for asking, though.”

Carlisle, who will become the 27th coach in NBA history to coach at least 1,000 games, received some measure of respect from forward Richard Jefferson on his major accomplishment.

“It is huge, especially when you see coaches coming from college, the coaching carousel,” Jefferson said. “And to tell you the truth, he’s a fairly young coach to reach that number.

“When you look at it, he’s been a part of the NBA now for almost 30 years, so it’s a compliment to him. It’s a compliment to his coaching staff, the people he’s surrounded himself by, which is really a true test of your intelligence, who you surround yourself with, because those are the type of people that can help give you a long career.”

This story was originally published December 27, 2014 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Thunder’s Westbrook poses huge challenge for Mavericks."