Russell Westbrook leaves game with an ugly ankle injury

Russell Westbrook left Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans with what looked like an ugly ankle injury.

The Thunder’s season got off to an ugly start, losing their first two games, both without Russell Westbrook as he recovered from offseason knee surgery. The followed it up with two more losses, outscored by a total of 41 points over that 0-4 start. But then Westbrook caught his rhythm and the Thunder started turning things around. Coming into tonight’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City was on a four-game winning streak.

All that momentum may have evaporated in just the span of a few seconds, however. Deep in the third quarter, Westbrook went up for a rebound and rolled his ankle on the way down. After hitting the floor, he rolled over, slamming his hand down and squirming in pain. He eventually limped his way back to the locker room. Those of you with strong stomachs can check out this angle and see just how far his ankle rolled.

Even the best case scenario here will likely have Westbrook out of the lineup for a handful of games, which could be catastrophic for Oklahoma City as they try to keep their heads above water in the brutal Western Conference. Going into this game, Westbrook had been averaging 25.3 points, 8.8 assists and 8.5 rebounds per game. Those numbers are tick down from the past two seasons, where he had averaged a triple-double but he had been finishing at an elite rate and the Thunder have been 7.7 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor.

Oklahoma City has a relatively mild stretch of the schedule coming up, with their next six games coming against Cleveland, Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, New York and Phoenix again. Dennis Schroder is Westbrook’s primary backup but he’s been shooting a woeful 37.6 percent to start the season. Get well soon, Russ!