Westbrook streak puts him alongside Jordan, Bird

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook put his name alongside the likes of Michael Jordan and Larry Bird by scoring his fourth consecutive triple double on Wednesday with career highs of 49 points and 16 rebounds against Philadelphia.

The All-Star Game MVP, wearing a facial mask in his comeback after breaking a cheek bone last Friday, led the Thunder to a 123-118 win.

Westbrook became the first player since Jordan in 1989 to have four consecutive triple-doubles, according to STATS, and the first since Jordan that year to have back-to-back triple-doubles with at least 40 points. It was the most points by any player with a triple-double since Larry Bird also scored 49 in 1992.

He still has some way to go to match Jordan's effort of seven straight triple-doubles and 10 in an 11-game span in 1989 for Chicago.

"It's definitely a blessing," Westbrook said, "but more importantly, it's important that we're winning."

He said the mask was little more than a nuisance.

"It was OK," he said. "It was weird. Had to keep wiping it. It was a total big process of trying to keep everything from fogging up. That's not going to stop me. My job is to come out and trying to lead my team."

It was Westbrook's sixth triple-double of the season and 14th of his career.

"It's amazing watching him play," 76ers guard Jason Richardson said. "You've got to take your hats off to this guy. He takes no plays off. He plays hard on both ends of the court. He rebounds. It's amazing to see a guy who has that much passion about winning."

Sixers coach Brett Brown sat on the scorer's table following a steal by Westbrook.

"You walk a line of frustration and one of, you become a fan. You just look at that and you scratch your head and are just incredibly impressed with someone who can deliver there, then you blink and he's up the floor and stealing a kick-ahead pass. He's just so...physically gifted and so incredibly competitive. It's a fantastic combination."

He will try to continue the streak against Chicago on Thursday.