Paul George was a big advocate for the Los Angeles Clippers to sign Russell Westbrook, and Friday night showed some glimpses of why.
In a historic outing that saw the Sacramento Kings defeat the Clippers 176-175 in two overtimes, Westbrook put up 17 points and 14 assists. That’s the good. The bad is that he also recorded seven turnovers and promptly fouled out with 1:49 remaining in the second overtime.
Following the outing, George was asked about whether Westbrook’s Clippers debut was what he imagined when he petitioned his squad to sign his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate.
“Yeah, it’s about what I imagined,” George said.
“The reason why I was high on Russ [is] because of what he brings. And we saw flashes of it tonight.”
There were some questions heading into the game about whether Kawhi Leonard truly wanted Westbrook on the roster, but he silenced those after the fact.
“Once he got here, I told him to be himself and have fun out there, and that I just believe in him,” Leonard said.
While everyone seems pretty happy with Westbrook’s debut, it’s hard to ignore that the Clippers still ended up losing. The same thing happened with the Los Angeles Lakers. He put up nice numbers with them at times as well, but it just didn’t translate into anything meaningful.
Time will tell if the same happens here.
Lakers star Anthony Davis had some pointed comments about Westbrook’s time with his team. LeBron James, similarly, doesn’t seem like he will miss Westbrook too much.
The video speaks for itself. https://t.co/yNPvJaNa2g
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 24, 2023
Westbrook has had that effect on teams lately.
That said, the former league MVP’s debut performance on his new team was certainly memorable.
Will Westbrook, George and the Clippers actually be able to eek out a win in the next outing? An answer one way or the other should emerge over the next few days.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
