There are many ways to describe Russell Westbrook’s brilliance on the floor, but perhaps the best word to sum it up is: confidence. Sure, the Hall of Fame-bound point guard was one of the best elite athletes the NBA has ever seen, with rattling dunks topped by darts across the floor, and he’s a relentless competitor every night Bricktown made history, but his confidence always stood out.

The thing about confidence is that deception isn’t far behind. Throughout his career, Westbrook regularly allowed his confidence to spill over into his emotions, affecting his play for better or worse. Among the blemishes on his resume in this regard are his last two playoff runs in Oklahoma City, where he ultimately lost personal battles in one-sided wars against Ricky Rubio and Damian Lillard, who outplayed the Thunder legend en route to series victories.

However, that confidence has never wavered, even as the NBA world has unfairly mocked and scapegoated him at every turn since his departure from Oklahoma City. Tonight was a shining example of that confidence fueling his game, as the veteran guard scored a stunning 29 points on just five missed shots, going 3 of 4 from distance and 6 of 8 from the charity stripe. Westbrook also grabbed six rebounds, six assists and a steal to help Denver hand Oklahoma City its first loss of the season, 124-122.

However, after the game, Westbrook’s confidence quickly turned into an illusion as he said after the win over the Thunder: “Right now they have the best record, but I feel like we have a better team and tonight we have that showed.”

Denver has an even 1-1 record on the season and all it took to win was a second home game, an exceptional night from a 35-year-old point guard, a nearly 20-20 triple-double from Jokic and two The Nuggets played the game of their lives as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded eight turnovers and Chet Holmgren made more errors than hits.

This is certainly a recipe for success and more two-point wins for the Nuggets. Neither team came into the game healthy tonight, with Denver without Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon while the Thunder were without Isaiah Hartenstein, Kenich Williams and Jaylin Williams.

While the 5-3 Nuggets needed something to celebrate after rallying through wins over Toronto and Brooklyn, it may have been a little premature to stake their claim atop the Western Conference.

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