Eric Bledsoe outplays Russell Westbrook in Phoenix Suns’ win over OKC
Feb 27, 2015, 3:35 PM | Updated: 10:55 pm
When you’re a point guard in the NBA, you draw a tough defensive assignment pretty much every night.
There’s not a tougher one right now than having to guard Oklahoma City’s explosive Russell Westbrook. The All-Star Game MVP came into Phoenix Thursday night averaging 27.0 points, 11.8 assists and 7.8 rebounds in his last four games, while shooting a respectable .493 from the floor.
Not only did Suns point guard Eric Bledsoe accept the challenge of the Westbrook matchup, he outplayed him in Phoenix’s 117-113 overtime win at US Airways Center.
Bledsoe scored 28 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out nine assists while showing uncharacteristic emotion on the floor.
“Y’all talk about leadership, the reporters talk about that so, I just tried to show a little more enthusiasm,” Bledsoe said. “Especially in our team, they feed off that. That’s what the coaches have been telling me, that’s what the team has been telling me.
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
Bledsoe not only shined on the offensive end, but did a nice job on Westbrook as well, holding him to 5-of-22 shooting when he was the primary defender, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
“He’s explosive and he’s been playing out of his mind and with tremendous confidence over the past month,” Bledsoe said. “We just tried to show toughness and hopefully it would rub off on everybody else, and it did.”
Westbrook started slowly, missing all eight of his shots in the first quarter and hitting just 2-of-6 in the second. Bledsoe’s defense had a lot to do with it.
“To have to guard Westbrook and run around like that and still have that energy and still score, that was big,” Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said. “He got around those picks with a burst of speed and they couldn’t catch him.
“He was great.”
Bledsoe played 42 minutes in the game, only the fifth time he’s logged 40 or more this year. If he was fatigued, it wasn’t evident. He scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting after halftime.
“That’s what the league is about. Every night, there’s a tough opponent you’ve got to go against and you can’t show that fatigue,” he said. “I tried not to show it tonight. I just tried to keep going.”
