OKC’s Russell Westbrook has matured and so has his game

It’s never easy being Russell Westbrook.

In his earlier years with the Oklahoma City Thunder, he was always the scowl to Kevin Durant’s smile, the sour to his teammate’s sweet, the ball hog who’d (some believed, intentionally) always step on the real superstar’s cape.

Even now as those myths have disintegrated — well, all but the scowl — and even as Westbrook has posted a mind-blowing statistical season for the ages, it’s still Durant who walked away with five Western Conference Player of the Week awards to Westbrook’s one.

Yet, when the Dallas Mavericks begin a third playoff series in six years against Oklahoma City’s dynamic duo Saturday night north of the border, it will be the Thunder’s raging bull with the basketball who they will focus on containing first and foremost.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound pitbull of a point guard fuels the Thunder’s high-scoring attack that trails only the Golden State Warriors. Westbrook followed up last year’s brilliant run with Durant sidelined for most of it, with his most complete season of his career, posting averages of 23.8 points to go with career bests in assists (10.4) and rebounds (7.8).

Say those numbers over again. And again. They should send your head spinning, your brain into total recall for the last time anyone has put up such lofty numbers in basketball’s three most traditional statistics.

If few players come to mind it’s because only one has ever finished a season averaging at least 23 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds: Oscar Robertson.

The Big O did it four times, the first during the 1961-62 and the last during the 1965-66 season. For those counting at home that’s 50 years. No player has put up numbers across the board as Westbrook did this season in a half-century.

If, just for fun, you throw in Westbrook’s 2.0 steals per game, well, that short list shrinks considerably:

Yet, thanks to that 3-point shooting marvel in Golden State, and even Westbrook’s own mesmerizing teammate, the league’s fashionista MVP is only an afterthought when in comes to the real MVP.

Still, his value to his team can’t be understated, even if his detractors insist on harping on his 4.3 turnovers (yes, and at times poor decision-making) and a 3-point shooting percentage a shade under 30. When it comes to the advanced statistic known as win-shares — an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player — Westbrook (14.0) is neck-and-neck with Durant (14.5). Only Stephen Curry, the favorite to win a second consecutive MVP award, boasts a better win-share (17.9) in the league.

About a year ago, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle described Westbrook's abilities as a "multi-layered problem."

Westbrook has an interesting history when it comes to playing the Mavs, from being benched in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the 2011 Western Conference finals -- the lone game the Thunder would win that series -- to this season's little brouhaha with J.J. Barea that ended with Dallas forward Charlie Villanueva's hand wrapped around Westbrook's throat.

Westbrook would later pick up a second technical foul and an automatic ejection.

While Mavs guards Deron Williams and Wesley Matthews will be charged with staying in front of Westbrook initially, Barea, overcoming a groin injury, will get his fair share of Westbrook, too.

Get ready, Round 1 is Saturday night.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 6:54 PM with the headline "OKC’s Russell Westbrook has matured and so has his game."