LA Clippers-Thunder: Can L.A. stop Russell Westbrook mania?
By Tom West
Russell Westbrook has been on a triple-double tear to start the 2016-17 NBA season, so how can the LA Clippers try to stop him in their Wednesday game against the Oklahoma City Thunder?
The first player in NBA history to record 100 points, 30 rebounds and 30 assists in the first three games of a season. The first player to record a 50-point triple-double since 1985. The league leading scorer and owner of an absurd stat line of 38.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and 11.7 assists per game. This man is Russell Westbrook, who, with Kevin Durant now in Golden State, has donned complete responsibility for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Russ mania has been everything we wanted in the first three games of the season, and the LA Clippers will be tasked with stopping it next in their Wednesday matchup at Staples Center.
We only have a small sample size to survey right now, but his role and importance to the team this season, combined with such ridiculous production so far, points towards just what he could be capable of this season. Actually averaging a triple-double is a possibility that can’t be ruled out.
So far, when combining his own points per game and the points created by his assists, he’s accounting for 64.4 per game (per NBA.com). In other words, he’s creating 58.7 percent of the Thunder’s entire offense (109.7 points per game) so far. Unfortunately for fans, it’s not exactly a recipe for consistent wins when an offense is so one-dimensional and everything hinges on one player.
Even still, how can the Clippers stop such a force?
No one can stay in front of Westbrook in the open court. He’s an absolute terror in transition, and when looking to take opponents off the dribble from the arc he can’t be contained outside. Exceptional speed and more explosiveness than any point guard in history makes him one of the hardest players to contain, but he can stop himself from being effective at times. On any given night, that’s generally what opponents hope they see.
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For all that explosiveness, Westbrook isn’t an efficient scorer around the rim. Of course, he can have spectacular, acrobatic finishes as he contorts his body or simply puts players on a poster. Such finishes aren’t indicative of his success overall, though, and he often takes off too far from the basket, tries to do too much through heavy traffic, or generally gets too ambitious as he dons the wild do-it-all role.
It’s why he’s only made 57.7 percent of his shots within two feet over the course of his career, and only a slightly higher 59.6 percent last season.
As for his jump shot, well, we all know how streaky it can be. He shot a solid 42.9 percent from 10-15 feet last season and is obviously hard to stop with his mid-range pull-ups and post-up play against smaller guards.
The problem is that when he takes too many shots, gets bogged down by interior traffic as defenses know his limitations from three, he can enter a streak of uncontrolled misses. For example, his 17-for-44 shooting in that 51-point triple-double against the Phoenix Suns.
This is what the Clippers will be hoping for, and their defense is primed to give him some issues.
For a start, Chris Paul is the best defensive point guard in the game and he can be accompanied by Austin Rivers and even Raymond Felton at times to help tackle Westbrook.
They’ll apply whatever pressure they can even if they can’t lock him up, although stopping Westbrook as much as possible will often come down to occasional double teams, funnelling him into traffic inside, and leading him into a crowd of defenders or DeAndre Jordan at the rim.
The benefit for the Clippers have the Thunder having limited three-point threats (even more so after trading Ersan Ilysova on Tuesday) is that they can place extra emphasis inside to focus on Westbrook. The starters can do this, and the bench have also been proving how well they’ve worked together defensively, too.
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If the Clippers can force Russ into some of his bad shots or create turnovers as he passes through traffic, possibly having some difficulty running the pick-and-roll with Steven Adams, quick fastbreaks off wild misses or capitalizing off turnovers will be the best bet to counter.
On some nights, nothing can be done to stop Westbrook. On others, this kind of defense, combined with untamed aggressiveness from Westbrook, can cause him and the Thunder offense to halt.
Stopping Westbrook is the key to stopping the Thunder as a whole right now. If the Clippers continue to work as a cohesive, switching, vocal defensive unit as they have been so far and give Westbrook trouble in the paint and force him into as many contested shots as possible, they could very well end OKC’s perfect record.
Next: Blake's aggression continues to shine
There’s no doubt these LA Clippers are a more well-balanced, deeper team than the Russ driven Thunder, and Doc Rivers will be hoping his guys can show that.