The Los Angeles Clippers are currently the eighth-best team in the West which means they would have to fight their way into the playoffs if they started today.
Lately, they have not looked like playoff contenders and have lost multiple games in a row.
In fact, they hadn’t even won a game with new recruit Russell Westbrook headed into Sunday night’s showdown with the Memphis Grizzlies.
But that all changed, as the Clippers walked away with a 135-129 victory.
Following the game, Westbrook spoke with NBA writer Tomer Azarly and talked about his role within his new team, saying “my job is to keep instilling confidence in Paul and Kawhi to do this every single night.”
Russell Westbrook on what the Clippers are capable of:
“I already know. My job is to keep instilling confidence in Paul and Kawhi to do this every single night. The rest of us do our part, we’re gonna be a hard team to stop.”pic.twitter.com/JLQ8efGiN3
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 6, 2023
Westbrook added, “The rest of us do our part, we’re gonna be a hard team to stop.”
The sentiment shared by Westbrook is something you’d expect to hear from someone who has had the year he has.
When the season started, Westbrook was a starter with the Los Angeles Lakers.
After a rash of bad performances, head coach Darvin Ham moved him to a bench position and he flourished.
He was averaging more than usual, playing better, and in conversation to win Sixth Man of the Year.
He’s a starter again with the Clippers but he obviously is more focused on being a supportive player rather than the center of the show.
On Sunday night, Westbrook scored 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Those assists were a team-high, unsurprisingly.
This was an important win for the Clippers and it looks like Westbrook has an idea about how to acquire more of them.
NEXT: NBA Fans React To Paul George's Big Performance Sunday
