Russell Westbrook may have struggled to score the ball in Game 1 against the Phoenix Suns but his defensive contributions went a long way in helping the Clips clinch this important road win.
The Suns have created a hostile environment for the Clips in the Footprint Center, with Westbrook having a pretty rough encounter with a trash-talking fan.
“Watch your mouth. Watch your mouth, motherf***er.”
“Watch your mouth motherf**ker”
Russell Westbrook to a Suns fan tonight: pic.twitter.com/EptuScWxjI
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) April 17, 2023
Westbrook will be more than happy to leave with the W but has had plenty of negative fan moments this season. Russ is known to get fans kicked out of games for trying to trash-talk him and in this case, confronted a fan in front of his son for being disrespectful.
In the 115-110 win, Russ had a rough offensive night going 3/19 but pulled off a clutch game-winning block on Devin Booker to take a crucial 1-0 lead for the Clips in the series.
Russell Westbrook Hoping To Change Narratives
For the last few seasons, Russell Westbrook has seen his value plummet from MVP candidate to buyout market signing, an incredible fall from grace for the former MVP. Russ’s playoff numbers have been a concern, even though he missed the postseason entirely with the Lakers last season.
Russ is a low-efficiency player that sees his splits drastically fall in the postseason. The last time he played in the playoffs was with the Washington Wizards in 2021 where he averaged a 19-point triple-double on 33% shooting. Even in his best playoff series performance where he averaged 37.7 points in 2017, he did so on an average of over 30 shot attempts a game.
Russ has made it past the first round just once since 2015-16 and even that came when he was injured during the first-round series between the Houston Rockets and OKC Thunder in 2020. His shooting looks to be off to a bad start in 2023 but his defensive impact was far greater than we have seen from Russ in a playoff-setting in years.
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