Russell Westbrook insisted he does not take basketball for granted after he edged closer to setting a new NBA benchmark in the Washington Wizards' overtime win against the Toronto Raptors.

With 13 points, 17 rebounds and 17 assists in the 131-129 triumph, Westbrook posted his 180th career triple-double in the NBA.

That is just one shy of tying the all-time record set by Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, while he became the first player with three consecutive 17-plus assist games since Steve Nash in 2007.

"It's a blessing, I don't take this game for granted, I don't take this opportunity to go out and compete for granted," Westbrook said.

"I want to be the best at what I do. That's basically it."

The Wizards are now 31-36 for the season and sit 10th in the Eastern Conference, with a four-game buffer to the Chicago Bulls making them near certainties to feature in the play-in tournament and fight for the right for a playoff spot.

Over the past 10 matches, Washington have gone 7-3 and Westbrook praised the team for upping their game.

"It's good man," he added.

"That's why collectively in the past month or so we've been playing better because everybody on the team has been doing a great job of locking in and stepping up when we need it the most."

Westbrook, though, did note his concern at the scheduling this season with Thursday's game – which took place in Florida – coming just 24 hours after the Wizards played the Milwaukee Bucks in Wisconsin.

The coronavirus pandemic means teams are playing a 72-game regular season but in a shorter period, with this occasion marking the 17th time in 2020-21 the Wizards have gone back-to-back.

"It's just very unfortunate that the way the schedule is – we got to get up in the morning for tests at 8am, we get in at 4am, 4.30am, don't get a chance to sleep, we've got to eat, get ready to get back on the bus and get ready to come back to play the game," he added.

"As much as we love to play, it's good to play, our health and our body is important, too. 

"I'm not too happy about the way we made this back-to-back. But we got through it and we move on. 

"Hopefully, in seasons to come they do a better job of scheduling and taking those things into consideration. Especially flying from Milwaukee all the way to Tampa."