Clippers-Suns series: 3 events that will surely happen, 2 surprises that might

Surefire event 3: Clipper offense will thrive with Westbrook

Since Russell Westbrook signed with the Clippers in February, he has helped revive what had been a suboptimal transition offense in LA. Despite the fact that they employed the speedy John Wall, the Clippers were scoring just over 12 fast break points per game before Westbrook’s arrival.

With number zero taking the reigns, the Clips have racked up their per 48 minute transition scoring to 16.4 points per game with Westbrook on the floor. His ability to increase the pace while finding shooters for quick points has done wonders for LA in the last six weeks.

While many questioned the Westbrook signing after his less-than-impressive tenure with the Lakers, he has shown that he is in a far better situation to thrive than he was with the team across the hallway. With Westbrook out of Darvin Ham’s system, his natural talents have returned to the forefront.

He is still turnover prone at times, but the spark he provides for the Clipper offense has been worth the trouble thus far. Westbrook already has eight double digit assist games since joining the Clippers, but his own shot has been falling more frequently as well. He has been red-hot from three in the month of April, knocking down 53% of his threes through four games this month.

With Paul George likely sidelined for the entire first-round series, having Westbrook at the top of his game will be a big difference-maker for the Clippers.