Aaron Gordon stepped up to defend Russell Westbrook after Game 5 loss

The Denver Nuggets, besides Nikola Jokic, didn’t show up in the fourth quarter of Game 5 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday as they blew the nine point lead they had with 11 minutes left. With two golden chances to win a third game in this series now gone, the Nuggets have their backs against the wall as they head back to Denver for Game 6 on Thursday.

Russell Westbrook didn’t have his best performance of the playoffs, as he finished with four points on 1-of-7 shooting, highlighted by a couple of airballs. He had the opportunity to flip the momentum of the game multiple time with big 3-pointers, but was never able to seize the moment on Tuesday, something that he did well in the first round series against the LA Clippers.

Earlier on Tuesday, a report was published that was centered around Russell Westbrook, but one portion of it slammed the character of the former NBA MVP, with a quote from an anonymous Nuggets player calling Westbrook “immature.”

Aaron Gordon, who also didn’t have one of his best games, defended his teammate after the loss.

“I don’t feel like talking about the game,” Gordon said. “Earlier I caught wind of an article that came out about Russell Westbrook and in our locker room after Game 2 which was a completely arbitrary article and pointless and unnecessary by whoever it was that put it out. Russ is one of the most talented basketball players that has ever played the game of basketball, and quite frankly, he’s been great for us all year long. We’re brothers. We spend more time with our team than we do with our own family. Of course there’s going to be disagreements, but that conversation wasn’t for anybody other than our own group and the internal workings of our locker room. So, that article is just so arbitrary and so far from the truth. Russ has been amazing for us, and not only is he a great basketball player, but he’s an even better human being, and he’s going to continue to be great for us and he’s going to make a huge impact and he’s going to help us win these next two games.”

Is Westbrook a fiery guy? Yes. Does he get emotional at times? Yes. Would the Nuggets be where they are without him? No.

The 36-year-old has not been playing his best basketball this series against the stifling defense of Oklahoma City. Through five games of the Conference Semifinals, Westbrook is averaging 11 points per game on 35/20/74 shooting splits. The biggest difference for him from the first round is the 3-point shooting, as he hit 42% of his threes against the Clippers, including two in Game 7.

Westbrook summed up his way of playing on the court earlier in the playoffs, and he showed that it could be good or bad, but he’s going to unapologetically be himself.

Russell Westbrook explains the Russell Westbrook experience PERFECTLY and it's why he's so fun to watch pic.twitter.com/ZAUF9U4RuY

— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) May 4, 2025

The Nuggets, who clearly have the least amount of depth of any team left in the playoffs, will need Westbrook to step up in Game 6 in Denver to keep the season alive. As seen in Game 5, Jokic can score as many points as he wants, but if the supporting cast isn’t there to help him on either side of the ball, it won’t matter.

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