UCLA Bruins in the NBA: Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook combine for 96 points in wild game

Last time we mentioned fellow Bruins in the NBA, we were talking about Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook getting two straight NBA All-Star games, both as reserves.

That would’ve been the end of our following of UCLA Bruins in the NBA, barring anything insane happening and, guess what, something insane happened.

When the Minnesota Timberwolves came in to currently-top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder’s home on Friday night, we expected the Kevin Love-led Wolves to put up a fight and lose to the Russell Westbrook-led Oklahoma City Thunder. That happened, but in the craziest way possible.

The teams quite possibly gave us the best game of the season, with the Thunder winning 149-141 in double overtime. The Wolves’ leading scorer? Kevin Love, of course. His line? 51 points off of 27 shots and 14 rebounds. That’s not a typo, folks. That’s efficiency and volume. Seriously. 51 points. FIFTY ONE.

That’s not all, though. The Oklahoma City Thunder had a Bruin leading the way in scoring, too. Russell Westbrook’s line? 45 points off of 28 shots, added to six assists and four rebounds.

That’s 96 UCLA points, along with 18 boards between two Bruins. To put those numbers in perspective, Oklahoma City allows just over 96 points from entire teams per game! In fact, 96 points is more than what 15 teams average on a nightly basis.

Sure, it was a double overtime, but for two guys to carry such a load (and both played on the same Ben Howland-coached teams, mind you) in the same game while combining for just over 99 minutes? That’s friggin’ insane, and we salute these guys for representing UCLA like a motherfriggin’ boss.

(Also, Malcolm Lee, another UCLA Bruin playing for the Timberpups, did not get any minutes today. Shame, because UCLA might’ve been the first school to combine for 100 points, much like they were the first school to 100 national titles.)