Russell Westbrook Ties LeBron James for Active Lead in Triple-Doubles

Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook notched his 45th career triple-double Tuesday night against the New York Knicks.

Westbrook's 27 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists placed him in a tie with LeBron James for the active lead in the category and sixth on the all-time list, per Sportsnet Stats. However, Westbrook is three years younger than LeBron and has played five fewer professional seasons.

The 28-year-old Westbrook owns as many triple-doubles this season as the rest of the league combined, per ESPN Stats & Info. He also joined Oscar Robertson as one of two players to average a triple-double 19 games into a season.

Robertson accomplished the feat in both 1961-62 and 1963-64 with the Cincinnati Royals, and the two have very similar stat lines nearing December. He managed to average a triple-double 79 games into the 61-62 campaign—a far reach from where Westbrook currently sits.

Robertson's 1961-62 campaign still holds a slight advantage in rebounds (12.4 to 10.3) and assists (11.8 to 11.3) per game, but Westbrook has averaged slightly more points (30.9 to 30.3). Westbrook also has one more game to potentially raise his averages before December hits.

Westbrook has stepped into the clear lead role for the Thunder this season following Kevin Durant's departure for the Golden State Warriors. He has managed to keep the team afloat at 11-8 through 19 games, and the Thunder currently sit in the sixth spot in the Western Conference.

If the team is going to make strides in the West, Westbrook will need some assistance from his teammates. Following Monday's action, the star point guard leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and blocks per game.

Westbrook has done enough to help the team win three straight games, but each victory came against teams with records below the .500 mark. The Thunder have two sub-.500 teams on deck before they face their next big test on Dec. 5 against the Atlanta Hawks.