Veteran level guard Russell Westbrook will come off the bench on Friday evening all the way through the Los Angeles Clippers’ matchup with the Houston Rockets, according to Chris Haynes. The lineup exchange is especially notable becuase Westbrook used to be the one that prompt it to the training group of workers. Per Haynes, the sacrifice has earned Westbrook reward all through the group.
Terance Mann will get started in Westbrook’s position towards the Rockets along James Harden, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac. Westbrook will now lead the 2d unit for a Clippers workforce that has misplaced six video games in a row, and is 0-5 since obtaining Harden from the Philadelphia 76ers in a blockbuster business. The shedding streak has noticed them sink to twelfth position in the Western Conference.
The Clippers could make excuses about the slide, akin to making an attempt to combine Harden on the fly, or the proven fact that Harden remains to be running his long ago into form after sitting out of the majority of coaching camp, besides it used to be transparent that this crew simply did not paintings in combination.
In 58 mins over 5 video games, the Westbrook-Harden-Leonard-George-Zubac lineup used to be a crisis on offense and had a minus-14.1 internet ranking. Of the 42 lineups that experience performed a minimum of 50 mins in combination this season, their 90.0 offensive ranking ranked lifeless final. They shot 38.2% from the box and had simply 39 made box objectives to 22 turnovers.
Upon arrival, Harden raised eyebrows by way of pronouncing “I’m not a system player, I am a system.” As CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn identified previous this week, the Clippers had certainly begun adopting Harden’s taste of much less motion, each with and with out the ball, and less passes. That merely does not paintings with 4 ball-dominant gamers, together with one (Westbrook) who’s non-shooter, and one (Harden), who’s reluctant to take catch-and-shoot 3s.
Westbrook’s move to the bench may not resolve the entirety for the Clippers, who in the long run want Harden to be significantly better than he has been for this experiment to paintings. However, it’s going to help steadiness the rotation and provides the Clippers a greater likelihood to get the easiest out in their skill.
Mann’s flexible skillset is a greater have compatibility in the beginning lineup, as he can play off the ball — 39.9% on catch-and-shoot 3s final season — shield a couple of positions and do a little of the grimy paintings on all sides of the ball. Westbrook, in the meantime, can now command the 2d unit, the place he’s going to have extra freedom to play his emblem of basketball. He’s nonetheless at his easiest when he is in regulate of the ball and pushing the pace — two issues that were not going down along Harden.
All advised, it is a savvy move by way of Westbrook. If any of the 4 stars have been going to get benched in the end, he used to be the possibly candidate. By volunteering to take the demotion, he now not handiest is helping the workforce and himself, however appears to be like excellent in the procedure.