Billy Donovan would love to play Russell Westbrook 48 minutes, or longer if a game bleeds into overtime. That's simply not possible, Donovan said late Tuesday night, even if Westbrook bleeds for the Thunder night in and night out.
"I have to get him some kind of rest, as hard as he plays and the way he lays it on the line, and the things he does athletically," Donovan said.
His rest is proof that Westbrook is human, even if some games he hasn't appeared so in dominating in stretches, just as he did in five games against the Rockets in an opening series of the playoffs.