Lakers-Clippers tilt is more than just a Russell Westbrook revenge game

After the LA Clippers got their first win since the All-Star break against the Memphis Grizzlies, Russell Westbrook caught up with former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Steven Adams. The two chopped it up for several moments outside of the visitor’s locker room at Crypto.com Arena before going their separate ways.

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As Westbrook strolled down the hallway, he stopped briefly and looked to his right at the last locker room of the corridor — that of the Los Angeles Lakers. Then Westbrook restarted his pace toward the loading dock to leave.

The final meeting of the regular season between the Lakers and Clippers always took on greater importance once the Clippers signed Westbrook on Feb. 22, 48 hours after he was waived by the Utah Jazz, who had acquired him via a trade with the Lakers. But now that the April 5 date is here, the game is even bigger than the ax Westbrook and his former Lakers teammates may have to grind.

41-38 Lakers visiting 41-38 Clippers

7th meeting since Braves relocated in 1978 with both teams at 40+ wins (Lakers are 5-1 in those games)

This will be the first of those meetings that one team can pass the other in the standings.

— Law Murray 📱 (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 5, 2023

Both the Lakers and Clippers are 41-38. The Clippers have won all 10 games against the Lakers under head coach Tyronn Lue, including the first three meetings this season to clinch the head-to-head season series. But the Lakers can pass the Clippers in the crowded Western Conference standings by snapping that streak on Wednesday night.

Westbrook is outwardly unbothered by such a big game that centers around his presence. He doesn’t give extra gas to a flammable situation. And after the Clippers lost Saturday to the New Orleans Pelicans to complete a regular-season series sweep, Westbrook put the focus for Wednesday night’s grudge match on the overall significance of the game in the big picture.

“Nothing for me,” Westbrook said when asked of his approach to the #RevengeGame against the Lakers. “But it’s an important game for us collectively. It’s probably going to be an important game for them as well. So it’s just going to be a big game overall, making sure we’re ready to go. My job is to make sure us in the locker room are locked in and ready to compete.”

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Many Clippers shared that sentiment Tuesday.

“It’s probable there is some more motivation,” said Clippers center Ivica Zubac, who was the most recent player before Westbrook to go from playing with the Lakers to the Clippers in the middle of a season. “It’s all about the team. It’s not about individuals’ performances, whoever, what you can get individually. It’s all about team performance. It’s about getting a win that we need. And that’s everyone’s goals. That’s Russ’ goals, just to get a win.”

“Who’s ‘former Lakers?’ Russ?” Lue said, facetiously. “He plays the same every night. That’s one thing about Russ. He’s going to give you everything he got, no matter who we’re playing. We could be playing a high school team, he’s going to give you the same energy and same effort every single night, and that’s what I love about him.”

The Jazz acquired Westbrook on Feb. 9 as part of a three-team trade that sent point guard D’Angelo Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Lakers and small forward Jarred Vanderbilt and shooting guard Malik Beasley from Utah. The midseason trade ended a desultory Lakers tenure for Westbrook, one in which the L.A. native and UCLA product was tagged as a primary reason for the Lakers’ shortcomings both on and off the floor. Even with the Clippers taking advantage of Westbrook’s weaknesses in glaring fashion earlier this season, there was empathy from the Clippers locker room about Westbrook’s situation with the Lakers.

“I’m always a huge Russell supporter,” Clippers All-Star Paul George said in October following a 103-97 season-opening win over the Lakers that saw Westbrook miss all 11 of his shots as a starter. “I don’t get the shade or the hate or the stuff that’s thrown at him. … Quite frankly, it’s not the team that’s very — it’s not geared for him with the roster they have as well. It’s got to work both ways.”

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The five-game losing streak the Clippers descended toward to start Westbrook’s second act in Los Angeles did little to dissuade criticism that Westbrook was unconducive to winning basketball. A lot of that criticism came from the team’s fans, who were satisfied with the team’s 10-4 stretch to end the pre-All-Star break portion of the season, with Terance Mann as the nominal starting point guard and George as the primary playmaker.

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But Westbrook started to demonstrate his comfort with a 27-point, 10-assist game in Sacramento alongside George, with Kawhi Leonard out. The Clippers lost that game but went on to win eight of the next 11, with Westbrook averaging 5.5 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.0 steals. After Westbrook’s 36-point, 10-assist effort in a win at Memphis last week with both George and Leonard out, Mann shared how much Westbrook has meant to the Clippers and how he has always performed, with a notable omission.

“That’s just what he does, and you’ve seen it with every team he’s been on almost, except the last,” Mann told The Athletic. “That’s a Hall of Famer at the end of the day. Everybody’s going to respect him in the locker room. He brings so much energy to us off the court that it doesn’t go unnoticed. After every huddle, every timeout, he’s letting people know where they got to be, what they got to do. And that’s just winning tendencies. That’s what he brings to the team.”

This will be Westbrook’s fourth time facing a former team for the first time in his career; Westbrook has had one each season since the 2019 offseason when George left Oklahoma City for the Clippers, prompting Westbrook’s departure to the Houston Rockets. Westbrook has delivered varying results in his revenge games:

• Oct. 28, 2019, versus the Thunder at Houston: 21 points (9-of-16 field goals), 12 rebounds, nine assists, one steal, plus-18, in 116-112 Rockets win (Thunder led by 15)
• Jan. 26, 2021, with Wizards versus Rockets at Houston: 19 points (7-of-17 field goals), 11 rebounds, seven assists, 4-of-8 free throws, minus-13, in 107-88 Rockets win (Double technical foul with John Wall)
• March 11, 2022 with Lakers versus Wizards at Los Angeles: Five points (2-of-11 field goals), three rebounds, nine assists (one turnover), one steal, one block, plus-2, in 122-109 Lakers win (LeBron James: 50 points)

Lue admitted Tuesday that he watched Westbrook’s first game as an opponent in Oklahoma City, where Westbrook spent the first 11 years of his career and was the 2017 NBA MVP. The Rockets were blown out 113-92 on Jan. 9, 2020, while playing on the second night of a road back-to-back. It was a departure from Westbrook’s other revenge games. Westbrook scored efficiently and voluminously (34 points, 14-of-26 field goals, 5-of-6 free throws) after resting the night before at Atlanta but was a minus-13 and had more fouls (five) than rebounds (two) and more turnovers (seven) than assists (five).

“I think he’ll be fine,” Lue said of Westbrook’s approach to Wednesday night. “I watched … the first game when he went back to OKC, and he was aggressive. But he was making a lot of passes early, just getting guys involved. But he was really attacking, being aggressive early. Just go out and play. It is what it is. We know it’s a big game, but just go out and play. Enjoy it. And I think Russ will be fine.”

Westbrook’s insertion into the Lakers-Clippers rivalry overshadows the fact that the Clippers are missing some key parts of what has made Lue successful against the Lakers. Four Clippers have scored more points in Lue’s 10-game win streak against the Lakers to begin his Clippers tenure than Leonard. Of the four, only Marcus Morris Sr. has a chance to play Wednesday night, and Morris is questionable due to back spasms after losing his starting job and being inactive the previous four games. The other three are the injured George and the departed Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard.

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The last time Leonard played the Lakers without George was in his Clippers debut in October 2019, which was also Anthony Davis’ Lakers debut. Both the Lakers and Clippers erased double-digit deficits before the Clippers outlasted the Lakers 112-102, led by Leonard’s 30. Leonard started that game with Patrick Beverley, Landry Shamet, Patrick Patterson and Zubac. Now, Leonard will have Zubac, Nicolas Batum, Eric Gordon (questionable, hip) and Westbrook as co-starters.

“It’s my job to make the game easy for him,” Westbrook said of Leonard. “He’s going to find his way, get to his spot.”

Wednesday night will feel like a referendum on Westbrook’s time with both the Lakers and the Clippers. A Lakers win will help fuel the narrative that Westbrook held them back. A Clippers win would keep the status quo between the current state of the rivalry, with both teams trying to make a push toward the playoffs.

The game is bigger than Westbrook. But his Clippers teammates have seen both sides of him: the Lakers player who struggled, and the Clippers player who has fit in. That may add something extra to perhaps the most important Lakers-Clippers game ever.

“I think we know the importance to it, whether it’s us as an organization or where we’re at in the seeding,” Clippers reserve Norman Powell said. “We know what’s been said about him in the media, what’s been said about him and his time there. … I think we’ve always shown the support since day one, since he’s got here and bringing him into the fold, bringing him into the family. For any player, going up against a former organization that you were just with, you want to kind of stick it to them. So I think it’s an important game just for him and us as well. We’re definitely going to go out there and play our game and do our best to get a win.”

(Photo of Russell Westbrook: Kirby Lee / USA Today)