20 Second Timeout

Suns Overcome Westbrook's 37 Points, Take 3-1 Series Lead Over Shorthanded Clippers

Kevin Durant (31 points, 11 rebounds, six assists) and Devin Booker (30 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) led the way as the Phoenix Suns overcame an 11 point deficit and a sensational 37 point performance by Russell Westbrook to defeat the shorthanded L.A. Clippers, 112-100. The Suns' third future Hall of Famer, Chris Paul, started slowly but finished with 19 points and a game-high nine assists. It is way too soon to say whether or not the Suns are a legitimate championship contender; right now, they are facing an injury-depleted team, so we do not know how the Suns will react when they play against a team that can match up with them--and we also do not know if Durant, Booker, and Paul can stay healthy for an extended playoff run.

The Clippers were without the services of Paul George--who will likely miss the entire series due to a knee injury--and Kawhi Leonard, who missed a second straight game as he nurses a knee injury. The absences of George and Leonard personify the failure of load management: the Clippers load managed George and Leonard all season with the express goal of having both players available for the playoffs, but neither player is available now.

Meanwhile, Westbrook almost singlehandedly kept the Clippers in the game, shooting 17-29 from the field while also contributing six rebounds and four assists. Clippers not named Westbrook shot 23-63 from the field (.365), and no Clipper other than Westbrook scored more than 14 points.

Westbrook is just the sixth player in franchise history to post back to back 30 point playoff games, and he is averaging 26.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, and 7.3 apg while shooting .460 from the field (including .409 from three point range) in this series. 

After the game, Westbrook said, "We make no excuses around here. We just got to make sure we rally around each other, keep competing and leave it on the floor." It is refreshing to watch and listen to a player who is truly a "no-excuse" player, as opposed to players who claim to be "no-excuse" players only to then offer up many weak excuses.

Remember that just two months ago, the Lakers traded Westbrook while they and their media sycophants blamed Westbrook for everything that has ever gone wrong in L.A. We were told that Westbrook is washed up, that he is a bad teammate, and that any contender foolish enough to sign him would soon regret doing so.

All three accusations are demonstrably false.

Westbrook's detractors insisted that D'Angelo Russell would be a better fit for the Lakers, particularly in the playoffs. Russell's career playoff numbers are 14.8 ppg, 5.3 apg, 3.4 rpg, and .345 FG%. That includes 12.0/5.5/5.5/.321 in two playoff games with the 2023 Lakers. Russell's playoff career-highs (not all in the same game) are 26 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. 

Westbrook's playoff career averages are 24.5 ppg, 7.9 apg, and 7.2 rpg. 

D'Angelo Russell's best playoff game ever is, quite literally, an average playoff game for Russell Westbrook.

I will repeat and emphasize what I wrote after game one of this series:

Brian Windhorst, Dave McMenamin, Amin Elhassan, and everyone else who wrote or said nonsense about Westbrook should be forced to watch this game while writing over and over--Bart Simpson-style--"I will stop making inaccurate statements about Russell Westbrook." Westbrook is not washed up, he is not poisonous in the locker room, and he can make significant contributions to a winning team even when he is not shooting well. Those are all demonstrable facts evidenced not just in this one game, but throughout Westbrook's Hall of Fame career.

Even the best basketball analysts can make incorrect evaluations or predictions. What is egregious about the conduct of Westbrook's detractors is that there is no objective evidence to support the awful things that they repeatedly said about him. It is not difficult to see that Westbrook (1) still has plenty of burst and explosiveness, (2) still plays hard, (3) still rebounds well in traffic, even versus bigger players, (4) still sees the court very well and passes his teammates open (as opposed to merely passing to open teammates), and (5) still is capable of scoring 25-30 ppg if given sufficient opportunities. 

So, why is there so much Westbrook hate?

I have stated my informed answer to that question before so I will not repeat myself, but it is worth emphasizing that any qualified and objective observer would not say the things about Westbrook that so many so-called experts have said. Hubie Brown and Jeff Van Gundy never bashed Westbrook.

Read between the lines, take out the words typed in bold, and you will understand not only media coverage of the NBA but media coverage of many subjects.

Labels: Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, L.A. Clippers, load management, Phoenix Suns, Russell Westbrook

posted by David Friedman @ 9:56 PM

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