Russell Westbrook Makes NBA History in Celtics Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Elie Deglaoui | Last updated Mar 2, 2025 3:25 PM ET

Sunday's matchup between the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets was highly-anticipated by fans as they are the two most recent NBA Champions. In their first matchup, the Celtics won in Denver 118-106, though the Nuggets were without Nikola Jokic.

The Celtics and Nuggets also both rank near the top of their respective conferences and are legitimate title contenders once again. In addition to Sunday's game being a battle of two of the NBA's best, it is also a potential NBA Finals preview.

While most eyes are on players like Jokic, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Jamal Murray, it was Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook that made NBA history in the game.

After recording his fifth assist of the game, Westbrook became the ninth player in NBA history to record 9,800 career assists, according to StatMuse . He now joins the likes of some of the NBA's all-time greatest players like LeBron James, Magic Johnson, and Steve Nash.

While he is not the same player he was when he took home the NBA MVP award in 2017, Westbrook is still a valuable player and is proving as much in his first season in Denver.

Back-to-back threes to start us off pic.twitter.com/xEx8hFgIe5
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) March 2, 2025

Through 53 games this season, the UCLA alum is averaging 12.7 points, 5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.4 steals.

As the Nuggets look to get back to the NBA Finals after their second-round exit last year, they will rely heavily on Westbrook as their sixth man. With just a couple of months remaining in the regular season, Westbrook is continuing his strong campaign.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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