Northwest Notes: Westbrook, Gordon, Avdija, DiVincenzo

Following Monday’s victory in Utah, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone lavished praise on nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook, who finished with a “perfect” triple-double: 16 points (7-of-7 from the floor, 2-of-2 from the line), 10 rebounds, 10 assists, four steals and zero turnovers, with Denver outscoring the Jazz by 23 points in his 33 minutes.

“He came in, and this is a guy who’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Malone said, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscriber link). “One of the greatest point guards to ever play the game. And what I admire so much about him aside from the leadership and toughness he brings every single day, is he’s got no ego.

“He (says), ‘I’m playing with that guy. I’m gonna play through him. I’m gonna make (him) better. And if I do that, that means I’m doing my job to help this team win.’ And he came here for one reason. That’s to help us win a championship. He hates to lose. And that’s what I also love about him. He’s built the right way. I’ll go to war with Russell Westbrook any day.”

ESPN has more details on Westbrook’s big night, with the former MVP becoming just the third player in league history to record a triple-double without missing a shot or turning the ball over (Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis are the others).

Here’s more from the Northwest:

• Prior to Wednesday’s win over Atlanta, Malone said starting forward Aaron Gordon will miss at least a couple more games for the Nuggets, tweets Ryan Blackburn of Mile High Sports. Malone added that there’s currently no return timetable for Gordon, who remains out after aggravating a calf strain. Gordon missed 10 games earlier in the season with the injury and has now missed the past four contests.
• After being traded from Washington to Portland in the offseason, fifth-year forward Deni Avdija started his Trail Blazers tenure in a shooting slump, averaging 9.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal on .346/.233/.813 shooting in his first 13 games (24.9 minutes per contest). However, over his past 19 games, Avdija has scored in double figures 17 times, averaging 16.1 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 3.0 APG and 0.8 SPG on .505/.424/.776 shooting (28.1 MPG). “I feel like I’m being more aggressive and consistent in my shooting and driving, finishing around the rim, and just playing hard and competing,” Avdija told Grant Afseth of RG.org. “As I mature, I have more experience knowing when to make the right play, passing, and everything.” Avdija, who turns 24 years old on Friday (happy birthday), also told Afseth he’s looking forward to playing for his home country of Israel at the 2025 EuroBasket tournament this summer; Israel qualified in November, Afseth notes.
• In an extensive interview with Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo admitted he found himself thinking about how well he played for the Knicks last season and found it difficult to move on after being traded to Minnesota right before training camps opened. The 27-year-old credited an unlikely source for helping change his mentality and rediscover his “joy and love of the game” over the past couple weeks — Dennis Schröder reached out to DiVincenzo for tips on getting acclimated after being traded to Golden State (DiVincenzo’s former club). Then the veteran guard gave DiVincenzo some advice of his own. “He was just straightforward with his words,” DiVincenzo said. “He said that it’s hard. You just have to go out and do it. No matter where you’re at, just be you and just go do it. You look yourself in the mirror and be like, all right, the situation is the situation. Let last year go. This year is this year.”