Russell Westbrook’s performance against the Phoenix Suns on Friday night can best be described as bittersweet.First, let’s address the “bitter” aspect.The Thunder lost 120-99 and were trailing 71-48 at halftime. Falling to 45-34 on the season, the Suns were clearly the better team all night, which was shocking since with the victory, they improved to just 23-57 on the year.Now for the “sweet” part.With the sixth of his eight assists on the night, Westbrook joined Oscar Robertson (from way back in 1961-1962) as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season.

Here’s how the historic assist looked in real time:

As you saw, Brodie hit Victor Oladipo in stride with a perfect pass up the court which led to a converted layup. 

As for another slight “bitter” note, Westbrook finished the game with 23 points on 6-of-25 shooting with 12 rebounds and eight assists. Not only was he just two assists shy of what would be an NBA-record 41 triple-doubles on the season, but the Suns intentionally fouled him late in the game despite being up by 20-plus points just so he couldn’t break the record against them.

In the hunt for that record, Westbrook has come up just short in two-consecutive games, which has been painstaking for NBA fans everywhere to watch on the edge of their seats. 

On Wednesday, he was just one rebound shy of the mark, finishing with 45 points on 14-of-25 shooting along with nine boards and 10 dimes against the Memphis Grizzlies. However, the Thunder were victorious in the game, which softened the disappointment a bit.

On Friday, it was an ugly loss that ended in an arguably unsportsmanlike way due to Phoenix's unwillingness to finish the game with dignity. 

Now with the season-long mark locked up, Russ will have three more games to record a triple-double before the regular season concludes to reach No. 41.

On Sunday, the Thunder will travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets before heading to Minnesota on Tuesday to square off against the Timberwolves. They will host the Nuggets in the final game of the regular season on Wednesday.

It remains to be seen whether or not the Nuggets or T-Wolves will take a page from the Suns' book and do their best to deny Westbrook history. NBA fans crave watching history unfold, and it would be a shame if those two organizations stoop to that level.

Since the Nuggets are very much alive for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff picture, they likely won't mess around and will be focused on earning wins. That's good news for everyone rooting for Westbrook to break yet another NBA record.