There are many ways to describe Russell Westbrook’s brilliance on the court, but perhaps the best word to salute him is: confidence. Of course, the Hall of Fame-destined point guard was one of the best edge athletes the NBA has ever seen with loud dunks capping darts on the floor, and he was a fierce competitor who entered the story every night in Bricktown, but his confidence always stood out.

The problem with confidence is that illusion isn’t far behind. Throughout Westbrook’s career, he has regularly let his confidence spill over into his emotions and take his game for better or worse. Blemishes on his resume in this regard include his last two playoff series in Oklahoma City where personal battles ultimately saw him lose lopsided wars against Ricky Rubio and Damian Lillard who dominated the Thunder legend en route to series victories .

However, that confidence has never wavered, even though the NBA world has wrongly ridiculed and scapegoated him at every turn since his departure from Oklahoma City. Tonight was a shining example of that confidence bolstering his game as the veteran guard poured in a jaw-dropping 29 points on just five misses, going 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and 6 of 8 from the charity ground. Westbrook also had six rebounds, six assists and had a steal to help Denver hand Oklahoma City its first loss of the season, 124-122.

After the game, Westbrook’s confidence quickly turned to illusion as he said, “Right now they have the better record, but I feel like we have a better team and tonight we We showed it,” after beating the Thunder.

Denver takes the season to a 1-1 record and all it took to get the win was a second home game, a freak night from a 35-year-old point guard, a near 20-20 triple-double by Jokic and two The Nuggets had the game of their lives as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recorded eight turnovers and Chet Holmgren had more misses than hits.

Certainly, that’s a recipe for success and more two-point wins for the Nuggets. Neither team entered tonight healthy with Denver out against Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon and the Thunder missing Isaiah Hartenstein, Kenich Williams and Jaylin Williams.

While the 5-3 Nuggets needed something to cheer about after coming off wins over Toronto and Brooklyn, it may have been a little premature to claim the Western Conference lead.

Would you like to join the discussion? As Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the cover.