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Russell Westbrook on playing through wildfires back home in Los Angeles: “It’s hard for me to sleep”

Russell Westbrook smelled blood in the water, revealed himself too soon, then still captured his prey anyway.

It was the first quarter at Ball Arena, and the Nuggets led the Clippers 19-13 after DeAndre Jordan scored and got fouled. With Jordan famously a horrible free throw shooter — 47.5% in his career, 35% this season — Westbrook went hunting for an offensive rebound.

Maybe it helped that Denver was hosting his former team. That is Michael Malone’s theory, at least.

“I don’t know if you guys notice,” he said after a 126-103 win. “Russ always plays hard as hell. I think he plays a little bit harder against the Clippers.”

Westbrook struck a more diplomatic tone, laughing at Malone’s comment before saying, “I love to compete at the highest level, and tonight just happened to be the Clippers.” Either way, what transpired around Jordan’s free throw on Wednesday night epitomized both Westbrook’s considerable impact on the Nuggets and something more personal to him. Maybe it was revenge, or maybe it was a release. The Los Angeles native is playing through a week of environmental and emotional turmoil back in his hometown, where wildfires have raged this week.

“It’s hard for me to sleep, to be honest,” he said. “I was supposed to take a nap today. It was hard for me to do that.”

As Jordan prepared to take his foul shot, Westbrook was stationed at the top of the key. Timing himself to near perfection, the 36-year-old point guard bolted inside the arc, flying past three of his teammates and three of his opponents to snag the rebound. But the officials whistled the play dead.

Westbrook was incredulous. He thought they were calling him for a lane violation. Then he learned the call was directed instead at Clippers center Ivica Zubac, who had stepped in from the lower block too early. Jordan was given a second chance.

This time, Westbrook planted himself on Zubac’s right shoulder and audibly issued a warning, as if it was possible to telegraph his intentions any more than he already had: “You better box out.”

Or as he relayed the exchange to reporters later that night: “I told him I was gonna get the rebound. … I told Zu that if (Jordan) missed, I’m gonna get this one, and there’s nothing you can do about it. And he missed, and I got it, and there’s nothing he could do about it.”

In one of the more bewildering sequences of the season, Westbrook somehow beat the 7-footer to the ball again. He managed to undercut Zubac and tip in Jordan’s second consecutive miss, completing a four-point possession with 4:19 left in the quarter. Twenty seconds later, Michael Porter Jr. buried a 3-pointer after Peyton Watson picked Zubac’s pocket, and the Nuggets were suddenly up 11 in a game that never got back within single digits.

“Russ told me that he was gonna attack the glass, so I was trying to get him going on the offensive glass and scoring. … I did miss that on purpose,” Jordan deadpanned.

Without three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic (illness), the Nuggets delivered one of their most resounding wins of the season. Westbrook kept doing all the little things to make them tick. He finished with 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists on 50% shooting in an individual performance that wasn’t even close to his best of the year. He has matched or surpassed that scoring total in seven other games, with better efficiency in six of them. He has registered his 200th and 201st triple-doubles as a Nugget, including one on 100% shooting with zero turnovers. He’s averaging 12.6 points and 6.7 assists as a sixth man and spot starter.

But the moments that have made him into a fan favorite are the outlandishly ambitious ones, like calling his shot on a free-throw offensive rebound, or the unpredictably passionate ones, like his celebration during the third quarter on Wednesday. After drawing his own “and-one” foul in the post against former teammate Norman Powell, Westbrook faced the crowd and “rocked the baby” for the first time since joining the Nuggets, laying it on thick by seemingly mouthing, “He’s a baby.” The former MVP popularized the taunt years ago when he played for Oklahoma City.

“Being a fan favorite is enjoyable. It’s fun,” he said. “The games are fun. It’s supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be exciting. It’s not supposed to be a boring game. People come to watch an exciting game.”

On a team that has been shaky, Westbrook is consistently supplying the fun, even when the main attraction is absent. Jokic has missed five games in the first 36. Denver is 2-3 on those nights. The two wins have been characterized by a Westbrook triple-double in Memphis and Westbrook’s antics on Wednesday.

He tried to channel his city’s pain into rapture. Westbrook grew up in South Central Los Angeles. He has played for both the Clippers and Lakers. His family still resides in the area. The wildfires have not taken his home, but they have impacted close friends. He has kept tabs on the latest evacuation orders, seen the countless videos chronicling the destruction of homes and businesses.

“It’s all gone, and nothing you can do about it. That hurts me, personally. Not being able to do nothing is difficult for me,” Westbrook said, thanking firefighters and first responders.

“I think the best thing I can do is, obviously this is my job, but go out and try to give people joy.”

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